As a freshman at Holy Cross, I was set on majoring in Political Science. Due to the various common area requirements, I found myself in a Spanish class freshman year. I had taken Spanish classes in high school, but I never saw myself continuing with Spanish. I took my Spanish class reluctantly to get the requirement over with freshman year. I had to take two semesters of college Spanish, and by the end of freshman year, I was considering majoring.
Sophomore fall I took a Spanish culture class for a separate common area requirement, and I decided that I wanted to continue on taking Spanish. I am now enrolled in two separate Spanish classes: Introduction to Textual Analysis and Latin American Art. Recently, there was an alumni panel with former Holy Cross Spanish Majors. This panel included a District Representative for Congressman McGovern, the Assistant Direct of the Holy Cross Admissions Office, a NFL Media Post Supervisor, a bilingual Legal Coordinator, and a Spanish teacher. Each path displayed a different trajectory that majoring in Spanish could lead to. Spanish has been a great addition to my Political Science major and Peace and Conflict Studies Concentration. It’s been a different avenue for learning about the things I am passionate about.
Next fall I will have the opportunity to go to Granada where I will get to study Political Science and Spanish history at the Universidad de Granada. If I had not continued taking Spanish, I would not be able to travel to a Spanish speaking city like Granada for study abroad. Spanish opened this door for me, and in the future, I can see Spanish opening other doors as well.
I would encourage anyone that is thinking about adding a language major or minor to do so! If continuing language at a college level is really not your thing, learning conversational skills through language apps is also a worthwhile addition to your skillset. I think it’s important for everyone to at least try delving into a new language because you never know how it could help you.
¡Adios!