Creating Community Ties
as a Bilingual Venture
Spanish Department
My name is Levi Watters, and I am an English (Linguistics) and Spanish student who is also earning a certificate in Latino Studies. I have a strong passion for the Spanish language, as well as the histories and cultures of its speakers. My mission is to become a Spanish instructor and use my role not only to increase the linguistic and cross-cultural competencies of my students but also to provide for them the tools and encouragement needed to participate in a culture outside of their own.
The CEA project has been monumental in refining my mission as a future teacher; it provided me with an avenue to open a line of communication between my school and many organizations who need Spanish/English linguistic assistance. I can apply what I have learned through this experience to fortify those connections as well as create new ones when I begin my career.
Supervisors: Iker Zulaica-Hernandez; Rosa Tezanos-Pinto
Project Overview
For this project, I worked alongside mentors to increase the Indianapolis community presence of our Spanish program and its current students/alumni. Through my work in the program, I have been able to reach out to the community to strengthen ties between IUPUI and surrounding Latinx / Spanish-speaking organizations.
As a result of our work with the CEA program, organizations can receive oftentimes much-needed assistance through internships while our students earn valuable experience and community connection. Additionally, the internship program offers real-world language and culture experience to students who may only have classroom experience. It is beautifully, mutually beneficial.
There are three sections detailing different aspects of my experience:
Achievements
Community contacts established, personal goals set and met, etc.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Communicative and innovation strengths; self-doubt and time-related weakness, etc.
Skills Improved
Professional, linguistic, intercultural competencies; time management, etc.