Spanish as a Choice, a Future by Stephanie

Spanish as a Choice, a Future by Stephanie - February 2013 Scholarship Essay

 
                Our flight came in late and inevitably everything that could go wrong did. We switched planes twice before arriving at our destination, and as our baggage claim carousal sat motionless, there were murmurs amongst the crowd about lost baggage. As I stood awaiting my precious suitcase, I noticed a Hispanic couple struggling to communicate with an airport employee. “Now is your chance” whispered the voice of courage inside my head.
I have been learning Spanish since I was five years old. The elementary school I attended incorporated cultural awareness into their curriculum, and learning a second language was a mandatory experience. The options for Kindergarteners were Spanish or French. For some reason, I decided upon Spanish; a decision I whole-heartedly thank my five year old self for making. As I walked over to the Hispanic couple in the airport, two things were on my mind as I speedily conjugated verbs and wrung my hands. “What if I could not understand them? What if they could not understand me?” These worries had gotten the best of me before, because of it, I let situations where I could have been helpful pass me by. I pushed those worries aside. “Necesitas ayuda?” They looked at each other with relief. My heart was pounding. “Si, necesitamos nuestras maletas.” I asked the airport employee when the bags should be arriving. He said that they were currently tracking down the luggage, and would notify us as soon as he knew more information. “Él dice que las maletas estan perdidas, pero los empleados están buscando para nuestras maletas. Cuando él sabe mas, seremos notificado.” As they both said, “Gracias” with humble smiles, I felt a breath of solace. I helped them.
                After that initial successful experience, I opened myself up to many more experiences like such. Whether it be helping a person with a purchase, helping someone who is lost, or answering someone’s questions, I relish the opportunity to speak Spanish. Instances like those are part of the reason why I chose to major in Spanish at St. Thomas. Having the knowledge and the ability to breathe life into a piece of writing or a conversation from another language and make it intelligible as well as useful for someone else is what I thrive upon. Understanding the riddle of words, sounds, and cultural nuances is all a part of the journey I started when I was in Kindergarten and will continue to follow here at St. Thomas. It is my dream to become fluent in Spanish and to work as a translator either independently or for a business someday. However, if I am to be a translator for a business, I am going to need the knowledge of how foreign business is run. That is why along with my Spanish major, I am majoring in International Business. I know that it will be important for me to not only be knowledgeable in the Spanish language, but in the workings of business as well. Not only would I be able to make myself more marketable, but I could better represent whatever institution I am involved with. There will be many crammed semesters ahead of me with both of these majors, but I have a dream to work for. I can see it happening here at St. Thomas. Mi sueño es en frente de mí.