Language Learning Experience

I pride myself on not just being a passionate educator, but also a lifelong learner. You can see this conscious intention for continual growth and lifelong learning in my language learning journey, which I describe here.

I began studying Spanish as a foreign language in 8^th grade, as many of my students do, and during the summer before my final year of high school I took the opportunity to participate in a short-term exchange program in Madrid, Spain. I was placed with a host family who had a daughter, Laura, who was my same age. After living with her family, Laura came to stay with my family, as well. I credit this experience for my love of the Spanish language and culture, and for traveling and immersion in other cultures in general. This was the first time I had met someone, besides my Spanish teacher, who spoke Spanish and it was exhilarating for me to try to communicate and make connections in another language. The experience made me eager for more similar experiences.

So, I went on to study Spanish and Secondary Education at Elmira College, and I would end up going back to Spain the first opportunity I got. This opportunity came during my first year there. This time I lived in Segovia, Spain, and I took a Spanish History course from a local school. I lived with a very welcoming host family and had another amazing experience immersed in the language and culture of Spain. My confidence in my linguistic ability and my ability to have positive intercultural interactions and establish relationships continued to grow through this experience, so I sought out another opportunity to go abroad during my third year of undergraduate study. This time, I found a program where I could live with a host family and complete an internship in teaching English as a Foreign Language at a local public high school in Santiago de Chile. I was excited to experience a new country and culture and to continue advancing my proficiency in Spanish. During my semester in Chile, I also took the chance to travel to neighboring Perú and climb up Machu Picchu. Elmira College also brought me my best friend, Paola, who is from Puerto Rico. So, I have also traveled to her home island several times, which has given me opportunities to experience their beautiful culture and even more of the linguistic variation of Spanish.

During my teaching career, I have taken two immersion trips to Spain with my own students. During which times I was able to observe the joy and excitement in their eyes of experiencing a new culture and using another language to interact with new people, as I had experienced for the first time back in 2011. In the summer of 2022, I received a scholarship through the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) to participate in an immersion program for Spanish teachers in Salamanca, Spain. You will find the certificate from that experience below, along with my New York State Spanish Content Specialty Test score report.