Integrative Narrative
My family migrated to the United States from Mexico when I was eight years old seeking better job opportunities. One of these great opportunities was learning the new language but entering elementary school was difficult because I did not speak English, my teacher did not speak Spanish and at the time the school district did not have the resources for students like me. Moreover, my classmates isolated me because they did not accept my funny-sounding English accent. I love my language; my beautiful mother is who influenced not only my language but also my culture with her Mexican music playing over the radio but it was this isolation that sparked a determination to learn English so that I could make friends.
Understanding the meaning of words became easier with time and I kept improving my English but my Spanish was being suppressed. Besides, serving as my mother’s interpreter convinced me that I knew Spanish and therefore I was fine. My sweet mother did not like that my Spanish was being neglected and she let me know it often but I thought that it was not affecting me much. Besides, the mentality was that learning English is how one earns the opportunity towards a better job. Adding to the suppression of my first language, I ended up taking Latin instead for two years in high school to meet the requirement. Consequently, I had not received any formal Span instruction on the Spanish language.
A few years after high school I got married and had two children; consequently, the idea of earning that desired degree was placed on hold. When my sons were old enough, with the support of my husband I returned to school. Uncertain of what degree to pursue, I started with the general courses at Hartnell College. I wanted to ease back into it to set a routine between school and home life so I signed up for an easy class - Spanish – because again, I knew Spanish already. It was harder than I thought and it was then that my mother’s reminders to speak more Spanish made sense. Professor Vacaflor, not to mention my beautiful mother, is who sparked my interest in the Spanish language all over again with her way of teaching. She inspired me into believing that I too can earn a degree in Spanish and become a teacher so the following year I transferred to California State Monterey Bay (CSUMB) to pursue a career in Spanish.
My experience at CSUMB has been nothing but an extraordinarily positive journey because I have had superb professors who have demonstrated they do care for students. The completion of this major was through the various classes taken; my major has exposed me to the political, social, cultural and historical aspects. I have learned about Latin American countries and civilizations where I climbed pyramids and into the past; acquired knowledge in linguistics and literature and how these have evolved the language. This is such an important foundation for my plans of becoming a teacher. I can apply methods of teaching employed by the professors using the same approach I learned in linguistics since our world continues to increase in its diversity. I particularly enjoyed conversations of how certain words have a dissimilar meaning or pronunciation in different parts of the world.
My proficiency has improved tremendously in the literary setting, not to mention culturally. One interesting aspect was that I learned to make connections between culture, language and the history of Spanish language. One cannot teach one without the other. I thoroughly enjoyed learning from the stories and poems when we analyzed the works of authors like Ruben Dario (Hispanic literature); Sandra Cisneros (Chicano/a literature); the Spanish writers like Miguel de Unamuno and Mexican writer Juan Rulfo. This again is providing a foundation from where I can gather information to incorporate when teaching about literary works.
The Service Learning component had a big impact on me because I believe in giving back to our community. To be aware of social issues affecting our Latin-American population and becoming more active and engaging is the objective. It is a great course that CSUMB integrates because it offers the chance to contribute to the improvement of our environment as a whole. I am thankful to have met wonderful people at the Gonzales Adult School in the Citizenship and in the English as a Second Language (ESL) classes because while I was there to assist, I learned more from them; their resiliency was intriguing and their tireless efforts to improve their future and the lives of others was inspirational.
Moreover, gathering knowledge from every single class I took under the Spanish major, the concept I especially will continue to use is the methods of analyzing; I find myself naturally doing it. Because of this, I learned also to think critically therefore my writing and communicating has improved greatly. Additionally, all the classes have a presentation factor which has helped me immensely being that this is required for the Capstone Project. I learned to share in the differences brought by everyone into a presentation. The theme for my collaborative Capstone Project is based on research related to how gender violence is exposed in Mexican literature by short stories written by Elena Garro and Elena Poniatowska.
CSUMB has been a wonderful experience from day one. I felt safe all the time and professors truly care about the students; they instill a sense of success attitude towards their learners. All the courses I have taken guided me towards my goal of obtaining a career. I plan on becoming a Spanish teacher and an interpreter. I am glad to have chosen Spanish and Hispanic Cultures as a degree. Spanish is colorful with its rich history and culture, it is diverse and beautiful. My sweet mother was right.