Year in review
yeAR 4: 2017-2018
Senior year brought on as many gifts as it did challenges. What is unique about this year in particular, is that I spent most of it not only outside of Ohio, but outside of the United States. At the end of junior year, I began my second summer working as an Intern with Project Mexico, returned to Cincinnati for fall semester, left for Santiago, Chile for spring semester, then returned to Project Mexico for my third summer as a staff member. Until I returned for class in late August I had only been in the United States for 5 weeks of 2018, and only 3 of them were in Ohio!
During my semester on campus, I was enrolled in a service learning class that required 52 service learning hours with the Spanish-speaking community of Cincinnati. To fulfill these hours, I worked at St. Vincent DePaul Charitable Pharmacy interpreting between pharmacy students and clients. This was a very valuable glimpse into what is it like to be a medical interpreter. Medical interpretation typically is a very information sensitive profession, making ways to “practice” it or “intern” in the field nearly impossible. I am very thankful that a local volunteer positions was able to expose me to a hard-to-enter field.
During my semester on campus, I was enrolled in a service learning class that required 52 service learning hours with the Spanish-speaking community of Cincinnati. To fulfill these hours, I worked at St. Vincent DePaul Charitable Pharmacy interpreting between pharmacy students and clients. This was a very valuable glimpse into what is it like to be a medical interpreter. Medical interpretation typically is a very information sensitive profession, making ways to “practice” it or “intern” in the field nearly impossible. I am very thankful that a local volunteer positions was able to expose me to a hard-to-enter field.
The following semester, I embarked on a journey that I had been planning to do since I began college. After multiple semesters of issues arising and scheduling conflicts getting in the way, the spring semester of my 4th year, I was able to study abroad in Santiago, Chile. Before my 4 months living there, I knew very little about Chile. Their version of Spanish was quite difficult to pick up on. In fact, a friend I met there from Spain said that he too had trouble understanding them. I think that if I had gone to Chile earlier in my Spanish career it would not have been as feasible. Thankfully I had more experience under my belt and was able to take on the tricky dialect and continue to learn and advance my language skills.
Studying abroad was not only the highlight of my year, but it also helped me sort out some of my future decisions. I’m still unsure as to where I will end up working and what industry I will be in, but I know that I want to keep jumping out of my comfort zone and learning from the new.
Studying abroad was not only the highlight of my year, but it also helped me sort out some of my future decisions. I’m still unsure as to where I will end up working and what industry I will be in, but I know that I want to keep jumping out of my comfort zone and learning from the new.
year 3: 2016-2017
The common theme with junior year both in high school and in college seems to be that it is difficult. This year certainly did not refute that finding! My third year at UC or as I sometimes call it, 15th grade, brought about a plethora new experiences, perspectives and mindsets. We all enter college planning for graduation, but the third year is when it really starts to become real. A lot of friends and current classmates leave for the real world and it really gets you thinking about how much time you have to finish everything up and how this chapter will end. My impending graduation, among other things fueled my research of post-graduation options. I found myself truly loving the work I did in Mexico during my summer internship. It got me thinking that working abroad, and working for non-profits is something I am interested in doing for long term, or career-wise. Similarly, after graduation, I hope to live abroad for a year or two in a Spanish speaking country to work on my fluency and improve comprehension beyond what classrooms and short term trips can provide. I have had some thoughts about considering grad school, but have no concrete plans for or against it.
All of these factors, along with my double major in Spanish and International Business, lead to an idea that may have been obvious to some, but took me awhile to think of, The Peace Corps. I began researching Peace Corps Programs and really liked what I found. Upon graduation in December of 2018, I plan to apply to the Peace Corps for a variety of programs. With a business degree I will be qualified for community development and business-related projects. Similarly, with an education in an English-speaking country and a Spanish degree, I will qualify for English teaching positions in a variety of places. I plan to apply to all of the programs for which I am qualified, and hopefully with these qualifications under my belt and my service work in Mexico, I will be chosen to participate. The remainder of my college career will be spent completing my degrees and better preparing myself for apply to the Peace Corps. I discovered a few semesters ago that with two majors, two certificates, and all of my summers spent in Mexico, it would take one extra semester to graduate. This however allows me to have some flexibility with my credits and I plan to spend spring semester abroad in South America. It also gives me one more summer before graduation to go work in Mexico. Although I will be stepping back somewhat from my involvement, I will continue to work on-campus in the Engineering Library, and I have recently accepted a second on-campus job as an academic coach in the Learning Academics Center. Much lies ahead and I am off to pursue it!
Year 2: 2015-2016
Caffeine, good company and reminding myself what delayed gratification, is are the main reasons I made it through this year. Some would say I am overzealous for taking on 19 credit hours, and on campus job, teaching ESL off-campus for a Spanish service-learning class, and maintaining involvement in 4 different on campus groups. At times I agree with them, but I also had wonderful experiences with each piece of involvement.
Academically, I am continuing with my Spanish Major, and I changed my minor in Entrepreneurship to a second major in International Business. UC provides hundreds of majors and minors and also allows students to get certificates which are similar to minors, but smaller and more specialized. Along with the two majors I have finished a certificate in Business Spanish, and I have a few classes left in a certificate in Spanish for Health and Social Services. These certificates have lead me to specialized classes in very lucrative topics. The Spanish for Health and Social Services certificate requires multiple service learning-classes. This semester I worked with a non-profit in Cincinnati Called Su Casa. At Su Casa I assisted with an ESL class every Thursday. I really enjoyed working with the adult ESL class and being able to share my knowledge of English with the students. Throughout the class I saw the students becoming more comfortable working with us and improving their language. I may be stretched too thin in this upcoming semester, but as things calm down and I have more time, I hope to volunteer with them again in the future.
I was also able to take an Honors Seminar for one of my history credits called Listen to The Music. This class was a combination of both music history and music appreciation. Towards the end of the semester we got to visit Rare Archives and books on campus to see old hymnals and choir music. While there, we got a full presentation of ancient and beautiful texts from almost every era in history. I had no idea UC had so many beautiful, historic texts right here on campus! I am so glad I had the opportunity to take this class and experience the history held within those books. Hopefully it will be offered again soon, I definitely recommend taking it.
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year 1 : 2014-2015
¡Qué año! What a year!
Freshman year didn’t come easy, but I loved every second of it. Prior to my first semester at UC, I honestly had no clue what to expect from college. I had no clue what I would do or what it would be like. All I knew is that it would be new and different and that that was good. As the year comes to a close, I agree with my initial statement. My first year was good, in fact, it was fantastic. The friendships I made, the things I experienced, and things I have learned are irreplaceable and I am beyond thankful for all of them.
I owe many of the fantastic friendships I formed this year to the organizations I am involved with. By being in the Honors Program I had the pleasure to meet, and form bonds with interesting individuals through being an Honors Ambassador, taking Honors seminars, and most importantly living in the Honors housing.
Freshman year didn’t come easy, but I loved every second of it. Prior to my first semester at UC, I honestly had no clue what to expect from college. I had no clue what I would do or what it would be like. All I knew is that it would be new and different and that that was good. As the year comes to a close, I agree with my initial statement. My first year was good, in fact, it was fantastic. The friendships I made, the things I experienced, and things I have learned are irreplaceable and I am beyond thankful for all of them.
I owe many of the fantastic friendships I formed this year to the organizations I am involved with. By being in the Honors Program I had the pleasure to meet, and form bonds with interesting individuals through being an Honors Ambassador, taking Honors seminars, and most importantly living in the Honors housing.
Countless names and friendships I know will last a lifetime come to mind when I think of people I met in good old Turner Hall. UC may be 5 hours away from my little home-town in northern Ohio, but I felt very welcomed, and very at home quite quickly. UC Choruses also played an influential role in who I met my freshman year. Without UC Choruses I never would have met three of my closest friends including my current roommate.
UC and UHP provided me with ample opportunities to pursue what I love and people to help me accomplish whatever I need to get done. I had no clue my Honors Advisor would be such an asset. At the beginning of the year I met with my advisor only because I had to and by the end I was visiting him with long lists of questions about everything I was planning on doing, honors related or not, and was able to get so much help and support. I had no clue how valuable having someone to talk things through with would be.
UC and UHP provided me with ample opportunities to pursue what I love and people to help me accomplish whatever I need to get done. I had no clue my Honors Advisor would be such an asset. At the beginning of the year I met with my advisor only because I had to and by the end I was visiting him with long lists of questions about everything I was planning on doing, honors related or not, and was able to get so much help and support. I had no clue how valuable having someone to talk things through with would be.
An especially influential class I took first semester of my freshman year, again having no idea what I was getting into, was called Spanish for Health and Social Services. This class involved obtaining 20 hours of service learning volunteering in the Spanish-speaking community of Cincinnati. After many months of struggling to find a place to get hours without having transportation or knowing the area, I was finally able to pick up the work of another student and work with a local Spanish-speaking mother teaching her English. This was an excellent opportunity to fulfill my hour requirements and practice my Spanish skills frequently. I found the experience very fulfilling and enjoyed it very much. I hope to continue working with her in the future.
Another awesome experience UC and UHP helped me accomplish this year, was studying abroad in Spain. I have already discussed this in multiple other pages so I will be brief. This trip was not only educational in a plethora of ways, but was also an awesome adventure.
As I look back on the beginning of the year, I am so thankful that I was open-minded. Through my involvement and academics I learned countless valuable life skills but I also did a lot of learning on my own. I learned countless things about myself and really feel that I grew as a person. I learned that I love to meet new people. I learned that I have a terrible attention span and should work on focusing. I learned that I can handle taking 18 credit hours. I learned that coffee is one of my greatest allies. Most importantly, I learned when I need to put down my pride and ask for help.
As I look back on the beginning of the year, I am so thankful that I was open-minded. Through my involvement and academics I learned countless valuable life skills but I also did a lot of learning on my own. I learned countless things about myself and really feel that I grew as a person. I learned that I love to meet new people. I learned that I have a terrible attention span and should work on focusing. I learned that I can handle taking 18 credit hours. I learned that coffee is one of my greatest allies. Most importantly, I learned when I need to put down my pride and ask for help.
The past year was full of awesome experiences and learning opportunities and I hope the rest of my time at UC is just as amazing and fulfilling.