I grew up in Central California and was immersed in the blending of Mexican and American culture. Many of my friends, their family members, teachers, and peers were Spanish speakers and I begun to have an interest in learning Spanish from a young age. Through my friends and a lot of books at the library, I began teaching myself Spanish. My 6th grade teacher was Columbian and infused what we were learning with stories of her experiences and culture. She even taught us some Spanish words! From that point onward, I was hooked and wanted to learn more Spanish. I began to formally take classes in 6th grade and continued learning through my university experience.
I had never considered becoming a Spanish teacher until I was taking classes in Spanish and education as an undergraduate and found myself extremely drawn to seeing growth in student understanding of the world. Having lived in California for my entire life as well as my entire academic experience, I saw firsthand the power of blended cultures and how there is beauty in experiencing new cultures and making strides to connect with more people groups than your own.
I began teaching Spanish in middle school and loved seeing the wonder of learning a new language through their eyes. As I continued teaching, I felt myself excited about working with older students and moved to teach high school. I loved teaching novice Spanish and seeing students' eyes opened to learning language for the first time.
Today, though I am no longer in the classroom, I very much enjoy engaging in Spanish culture throughout my town as well as continuing to improve my Spanish through resources on my own. I was able to travel to Europe for the first time and deepen my understanding of Spanish and Spanish culture. I am excited to continue to find spaces in my day to day life to use language and know more peoples' stories.