Traveling and my life began an early relationship. When I was just under a month old, I flew in an airplane for the first time. The out-of-state road trips and flights continued through elementary and middle school. Unless you want count the time I crossed the Canadian border at Niagara Falls, my first trips out of the country began in high school. My mom, sister, and I traveled on my dad’s business trip to Rome and Paris, and ever since then my passion for travel has affected many parts of my life.
It is hard for me to believe that I once did not care too much about different cultures. There is a difference between loving travel and loving to learn about the world and its many cultures. Before my Geography 202 class freshman year, I only desired sight-seeing and checking that place off my travel list. GEOG 202 changed my perspective. The class helped me realize real people live in Rome and Costa Rica. Those places are just as real as the Texas I have always lived in. People in other parts of the world have neighbors and friends just like I do. Life goes on when the tourists have left and the news reporters are gone. Happiness and heartbreak happen everywhere. After that class I wanted to understand how other cultures work. I now want to experience the daily life, not just look around like a tourist.
After an unhappy attempt at a business minor, I half-heartedly chose a Spanish minor, and many of you know that quickly turned into a full-hearted passion. A big thanks goes out to my Underwood residents who helped me with my Spanish compositions. My confidence grew every time these lovely ladies would tell me "Hey, this is actually pretty good. Your Spanish has been improving a lot!" Muchas gracias amigas!!
Two years ago, I went to Argentina for ten days and that was the first time I ever used my Spanish in real life situations. I met many wonderful friends and families, and developed affection for the warm culture. Several people I became friends with told me if I ever came back to Argentina, I could stay with them. The day I left Argentina, I knew I would return someday.
Mix together my travel experiences, in-class cultural discussions, love of the Spanish languages and cultures, and desire to work with those sassy teenagers, and you'll end up with someone who wants to teach high school Spanish. One main goal as a teacher is to help the students realize the many other places this world offers. I know too many people who have never left the US, or even Texas! Of course I will attempt to channel my nerd-like obsession of Spanish grammar to my students, but mostly I want them to understand the opportunities that arise if they learn and speak another language. According to a few quick Google searches, there are about 400 million native Spanish speakers. That means if you cannot speak Spanish, there are 400 million people out there that you will have a hard time building friendships with!
For all these reasons, I am going to Argentina January 4th. I hope to return fluent in Spanish, and then I will take a test that qualifies me to teach Spanish. My Argentine friends said I should come back...so here I come!!
