Integrative Narrative
One of the most important decisions of my life was choosing the professional career I wanted to pursue. And, although I had a very long list of options, I knew I wanted to position myself in something related to my culture and native language. As I grew academically and personally, I realized my passion for teaching. It led me to choose the path for a degree in Spanish Language and Hispanic Cultures at CSUMB. Choosing and deciding to start this career has only left me with positive experiences and a great enthusiasm for imparting and teaching everything I have learned as a student in the major. Thanks to everything I have been taught, I have managed to observe an enormous development in basic skills such as speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Through this area of specialization, I have also been exposed to different cultures and regions of Latin America, the Caribbean, and even regions within the United States where there is a large Latino population. Within this teaching environment, I have managed to be influenced by great doctors within the program who have made that desire grow within me to want to reach that same level of influence over my future students.
Being part of a program that I have enjoyed from start to finish, I have realized that there is never enough time to finish learning and that this has only been part of the stretch to cover. In the language proficiency section, I improved my interpersonal, interpretative, and presentational communication skills. In the linguistics component, I learned the grammatical structure of Spanish and English, as well as the most effective teaching and learning methodologies in a diverse area such as California, home of millions of immigrants from different parts of Latin America, the Caribbean, and Spain. In literature, I learned to critically analyze the most relevant literary pieces of the Spanish-speaking world, as well as the most important historical periods of Latin American history. In the second culture section, I was exposed to the culture, history, and social problems of Japan with the purpose of expanding my cultural knowledge. In the cultural internalization and language immersion, I had the opportunity to use my linguistic, literary, and cultural knowledge for the benefit of an academic sector, as well as to highlight the relevance of access to education for all individuals. In the research and technology section, I acquired essential skills in the research process by being exposed to a variety of online resources and tools by amazing faculty members.
Above all, I am very proud of my academic growth, especially in the areas of research and presentation, where I have shown great effort when carrying out these activities. I was also able to put into practice services to my community and be able to cling even more to the idea of being a teacher and how to help deeply in the needs of my own people. My last project and material test for the completion of the program was the creation of my e-Portfolio, which I feel very happy and proud to have achieved, as it will show the hard work I have put into my degree.
Personally, I think that I should improve my reading skills to increase my knowledge in the historical context of different works that I read. I also plan to continue my language education to develop my classes according to the needs of my students as heritage speakers or learners of Spanish. Another one of my goals is to improve my communication skills in English, since being an apprentice of this I had difficulties expressing myself in academic contexts. My ultimate goal is to learn Portuguese and Italian, which would help me eventually complete my PhD in Spanish, possibly in literature.
Being part of a program that I have enjoyed from start to finish, I have realized that there is never enough time to finish learning and that this has only been part of the stretch to cover. In the language proficiency section, I improved my interpersonal, interpretative, and presentational communication skills. In the linguistics component, I learned the grammatical structure of Spanish and English, as well as the most effective teaching and learning methodologies in a diverse area such as California, home of millions of immigrants from different parts of Latin America, the Caribbean, and Spain. In literature, I learned to critically analyze the most relevant literary pieces of the Spanish-speaking world, as well as the most important historical periods of Latin American history. In the second culture section, I was exposed to the culture, history, and social problems of Japan with the purpose of expanding my cultural knowledge. In the cultural internalization and language immersion, I had the opportunity to use my linguistic, literary, and cultural knowledge for the benefit of an academic sector, as well as to highlight the relevance of access to education for all individuals. In the research and technology section, I acquired essential skills in the research process by being exposed to a variety of online resources and tools by amazing faculty members.
Above all, I am very proud of my academic growth, especially in the areas of research and presentation, where I have shown great effort when carrying out these activities. I was also able to put into practice services to my community and be able to cling even more to the idea of being a teacher and how to help deeply in the needs of my own people. My last project and material test for the completion of the program was the creation of my e-Portfolio, which I feel very happy and proud to have achieved, as it will show the hard work I have put into my degree.
Personally, I think that I should improve my reading skills to increase my knowledge in the historical context of different works that I read. I also plan to continue my language education to develop my classes according to the needs of my students as heritage speakers or learners of Spanish. Another one of my goals is to improve my communication skills in English, since being an apprentice of this I had difficulties expressing myself in academic contexts. My ultimate goal is to learn Portuguese and Italian, which would help me eventually complete my PhD in Spanish, possibly in literature.