When I started at William & Mary, the only thing I thought I was going to do was study English. But during the spring of my freshman year, I took a Spanish conversation course, and it launched me into the world of Hispanic Studies full-time. My experience in Hispanic Studies is inextricably linked with the Hispanic House, where I lived for two years and made some of my best friends and favorite memories of college. I was even able to spend a semester abroad in Seville, immersing myself fully in the culture and landscape of Spain. When I returned, I felt prepared to take some of the most interesting–and challenging!–courses that William and Mary had to offer, like Prof. Buck’s “Hispanic Cinema” and Prof. Cate-Arries’ “El franquismo y sus fantasmas”. I even got a head start on my future plans by working as a TA for the 203 class, learning to introduce the Spanish culture and language to my first students.
My current goal is to experience the rest of the Spanish-speaking world that I’ve only had a taste of so far. I’m not quite ready to give up travelling and learning just yet–I plan to work as a English teacher in Spain, and maybe later on in countries in South America, all while continuing to perfect my own Spanish so that I may someday achieve my dream of working as a Spanish-to-English (and vice versa) literature and film translator. I’ll always be grateful for the amazing teachers and influences I’ve had in the Hispanic Studies department, and I can’t wait to face what will come.