As a student of Hispanic Studies at William & Mary I have been given the skills and opportunities to develop both my proficiency as a Spanish speaker, my cultural knowledge of Spain and Latin America, and my general understanding of people with backgrounds different than my own. Some of the best parts of my experience have occurred during the time I spent abroad, both in Nicaragua working with an NGO and in Chile during my semester abroad. Both of these experiences would not have been possible or meaningful without the knowledge I had gained in the classroom.
I think the best part of the Hispanic Studies department is truly the professors, whom have supported and aided me in almost everything I have accomplished at the college, both academically and otherwise. In September of this year, I will start my nine-month grant as Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Mexico, a program I am honored and thrilled to be participating in. Becoming a Fulbright would have been impossible without the recommendations, interview advice, and general knowledge I received from the professors in the Hispanic Studies department, and I hope to continue using all that I have learned to work on economic and social development in Hispanic communities both at home and abroad.