Cover Letter
When I began at Lewis my freshman year, I was undecided about a major but knew I wanted to have a minor in Spanish. I was unsure about what I wanted to pursue a career in, the only thing I know for sure was that I wanted that career to provide an opportunity to use my Spanish. When I discovered speech-language pathology, it was the perfect career that I could use my interest in speech and languages and continue my growth in the Spanish language and culture for the next 4 years until I reached graduate school.
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I began learning Spanish at 5 years old, in an immersive dual language program through my public elementary school. This meant that almost 100% of my elementary school was in Spanish and I cannot recall learning the language. Throughout the years since then, I have gone through waves of use of the language and abilities, as they increase and decrease in accordance with how much I am using it. Once I knew that I wanted a future where my career involved Spanish, I had to regain the abilities and confidence in the language. This is where majoring in the Spanish Language and Culture major at Lewis University aided my growth exponentially.
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One of the challenges I’ve faced in learning Spanish is the lack of formal instruction in grammar during my early language development. Because of my immersion experience, I often rely on intuition when it comes to grammar and sentence structure, which can sometimes make it difficult to explain or analyze the rules. Something else I struggle with with the Spanish language is speaking it and taking opportunities to practice. When I do not practice for a few months, it is very quick to decline. I know I have many strengths including reading, speaking, and comprehension. I struggle with producing the language, especially when my use is down.
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As I continue on to graduate school for speech language pathology, I plan to work with my professors to seek out clinical placements and opportunities to use Spanish. My ultimate goal is to incorporate Spanish into my everyday work as a speech-language pathologist, serving bilingual and Spanish-speaking communities with cultural competence and linguistic confidence.