Heather Stewart - Class of 2018 - Spanish Language and Hispanic Culture
Bienvenidos a mi e-Portafolio.
El camino hacía la educación no tiene fin.
Welcome to my e-Portfolio.
The road to education is never ending.
El camino hacía la educación no tiene fin.
Welcome to my e-Portfolio.
The road to education is never ending.
Personal Statement
I was in first grade when I learned my first Spanish words. “Hola. ¿Cómo te llamas?” I could hardly believe that there was another language, aside from the one that I spoke, that could be used to express ideas, ask questions, and communicate with others. “Me llamo Suzita.” My English name, Heather, didn’t translate into Spanish, so la maestra gave me my first Spanish name, Suzita, “Little Suzy”. Spanish was my first true love. I fell hard for the cadence of the syllables; the warmth of the words; the R’s rolling off my tongue.
When I was six, I went with my parents to look at a car for sale in East Salinas. Having been born and raised in Carmel, California, I had never been anywhere so exotic and colorful and lively! A little boy, about my age, played near us on the sidewalk, and I quickly realized that this was my chance to try out my new language.
“¿Hola. Cómo te llamas?” I squeaked out tentatively.
“Juan!” he shouted over his shoulder as he ran to join his compañeros.
I was amazed that he had understood me! I had communicated with someone who spoke this beautiful foreign tongue. It was like I had found the key to a magic door, and, to my amazement, it had opened to reveal a stunning world of flores and vacas and estrellas. But it wasn’t enough. I ran and caught up with my new friend, Juan. We stood, staring blankly at one another, and it saddened me to realize that I didn’t have anything else I could say. He looked at me expectantly and sputtered something in Spanish that I couldn’t understand. I turned and walked slowly back to my parents, determined that someday I would be able to understand this new language that I didn’t know but already loved.
It wasn’t until my sophomore year in high school that I finally got the opportunity to study Spanish formally. I took Spanish I and II, skipped Spanish III and took AP Spanish my senior year. After graduating high school, I was accepted into UC Berkely, but all I wanted to do was study Spanish. I begged my parents to let me defer my acceptance and study Spanish in Mexico and Costa Rica. They agreed. At the end of that semester, I met my future husband.
I didn’t end up going back to school as I had planned. Instead, my husband and I settled down, started a business, and raised four kids. Suddenly, twenty years had gone by. I am pleased to share that after the twenty year hiatus, I am back to studying Spanish. I will be graduating from CSUMB in the spring of 2018 with my B.A. in Spanish Language and Hispanic Culture. I hope someday to teach Spanish and share my love of the language with kids from all backgrounds. I want to give them each their own magic key to the enchanted world of flores and vacas and estrellas.
Resume
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Individual Learning Plan (ILP)
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