My life at glance 

My name is Hakima Soudani Harris, I was born and raised in Morocco, North Africa. The age of 19, I moved to Spain where I remained for 18 years.  I developed an emotional love for languages since an early age. I grew up in a bilingual environment where my ancestor’s language; the Berbers, the Moroccan variation 'darija' and the classic Arabic were spoken daily  in my home.  At age of 5, my parents enrolled me in a French school and at age of 14, I signed up for my first Spanish course. In the following years, I added The Portuguese and the English language to my repertoire.  I have dedicated a significant portion of my life learning languages, discovering other cultures and living in diversity. My favorite hobby was and still is reading, and I always brag about the multilingual books in my bookshelf.

When I lived in Spain, I worked as an intercultural mediator in a non-profit refugee association named  Accem. Part of my job consisted of guiding refugees’ children in their adaptation process. One of my multiple tasks was to teach Spanish to parents and children. Leading that classroom every Tuesday and Thursday nurtured my passion toward teaching. My experience in that classroom made me realize the importance of the language,how it brings people together, and how through it,  people can bridge varied communication gaps. Today, I am here starting a new journey, in my new home,North Carolina, and I am willing to give back to my new community the best of me through teaching and leading a world languages classroom that will invite our youth to discover and appreciate different cultures, through the study of a new language.