James from the U.S. joined us in 2019 for our University Spanish Program. His program was highly tailor-made to fit his interests with literature-focused private lessons accompanying the traditional University Spanish courses. Here is his story…
Growing up in a military household, I have always understood the importance in how travel allows one to be educated on different aspects of the world. For me, my time in Argentina and during this study abroad program, has exposed me to Spanish, a language I want to be fluent in in order to allow me to help a larger population in my future.
Since I was a child I have understood that I want to be a veterinarian because I have a passion of giving other species a voice they do not always have in our world. Upon this path to becoming a veterinarian, I have had to have great determination in order to always believe in myself, since at times I felt I was not capable of reaching my end goal. This taught me the importance of determination and self love when the world may be against you. Further, it taught me that I am a driven person that will not let anything stand in my way. Along this path, I was introduced to numerous mentors, and one told me that in order to truly prosper in the profession of veterinary medicine, I should learn Spanish.
Many Spanish speaking people and communities in the United States do not have access to veterinary care due to the fact that very few veterinarians speak Spanish, and I want to change this. This is when my love of the language was fostered. It was not until university that I was exposed to the true power of being bilingual, not only to prosper in my career but further to be able to help an underserved community in the United States. Thus, my urge to become fluent in Spanish is not only to open my future job possibilities, but more importantly to help a group of people that do not always access to tools I find important due to language barriers. With this in mind, I believe myself capable of becoming completely fluent in the language during the program.
Studying Spanish in a Spanish speaking nation has always been a dream of mine since I first started learning the language. For me, an intense program like this is exactly what I was looking for because it would push me beyond my current comfort zone with the language. I truly think this is the only true way to become fluent in a language.
Since the beginning of my love of the Spanish language, I have understood that I want to be fluent. This fluency will not only allow me to have a larger location range I can work in the veterinary medicine field, but also it will allow me to help a group of people that are often overworked and overlooked in the United States. This value to help others was instilled into me grouping up in a military household who’s goal was to spread love and peace among the world and this continues to resonate with me today. During my upbringing, I was fortunate to be able to travel through the world, experiencing new cultures I had never been exposed to. This has allowed me to feel comfortable in new situations while also embedding my love and crave to see new places. With this in mind, I thought I would succeed greatly in the University Spanish program during the summer with Mente Argentina.
