I love Spanish!

July 10, 2012

I am leaving for Costa Rica in 10 days!  Saying I am excited just doesn't adequately describe my feelings!  I have looked forward to the opportunity to study Spanish abroad for many years, but first I want to tell you why I love Spanish so much... 

When I was 8 years old my Uncle Bill married María Mendoza. She was from Cuba, was young, very pretty, and spoke Spanish.  Once, I went to stay at their house for a few weeks in the summer. I remember we traveled from Georgia to their house in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida late at night and a Spanish radio station was playing in their car.  What a beautiful language! But what were they saying?  While at their house, Aunt Maria's aunt and uncle would visit and I would listen to them speak Spanish and I wanted so badly to know what they were saying. I wanted to speak Spanish, too.

My opportunity to learn Spanish came in high school. I took 3 years of Spanish and then decided to major in Spanish at college. I graduated with a BA in Spanish from Brigham Young University. I dreamed of teaching high school Spanish, but didn't finish the teacher certification program. My plan was to take some time to work, earn some money, and go back to school for a Master's degree so I could teach Spanish at a community college, travel to Spain and Mexico, etc.  A month later, I met my future husband.  After a short courtship, we married and started our family. With a loving husband and 3 energetic children to care for, the years quickly passed. I didn't travel , teach, or use Spanish. The Spanish I had learned slowly began to slip away...

Fast forward 25 years, the kids were mostly raised and I decided to go back to school to get a teaching certificate.  I had long given up on Spanish, so I earned an elementary teaching certificate and figured I'd teach 4th or 5th grade until I retired.  Unfortunately, I wasn't hired right away. I substitute taught at all grade levels for a year. I found myself subbing in Spanish classes and the urge to speak and teach Spanish began to gnaw at me. I applied for a part-time job teaching Spanish to home-schooled students attending classes in an alternative program offered by the local school district. During the next 5 years, I studied, refreshed, practiced, earned an endorsement in Spanish to add to my teaching certificate, and taught first year middle and high school Spanish to those wonderful home-schooled students.  Last year, due to budget cuts, my position was eliminated and I was transferred to a large high school to teach first and second year Spanish.

Life is funny in that sometimes we are allowed to finish things we started. My life has circled around to where I left off 34 years ago: I am now a high school Spanish teacher! Now for the traveling...