Spanish Editor: Mayra Villanueva

Translator: Yessenia Rodriguez 

This event was an invitation to students that are majoring in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), Spanish Teaching as a foreign language and graduated alumni from the program to discuss their experiences of preparation at UNI to work in bilingual education programs, international studies and other settings. 

The Language Advisor and instructor of Spanish, Elena Dobrila, talks about the number of students in the majors of Spanish: currently there are “9 students in the program of Spanish Teaching and TESOL, 25 students in Spanish without focusing on teaching and 20 students with a major in Spanish Teaching.”

Dobrila also mentioned that this is a great opportunity for alumni of the program to talk about their experiences and that students can learn more about future possibilities. Dobrila says, “For the students that are in the program right now, or those who are considering it, this is a great opportunity to get rid of any doubts and understand more about the possibilities that this major offers.”

The organizer of this event and Spanish professor, Heather Jerónimo, told us about the reason for this event was to celebrate former students and their experiences after university. Professor Jerónimo says that, “It is expected that the students learn about the experience of teaching Spanish in different types of schools. The participants are going to talk about the skills they have learned about the Spanish program at UNI and how they have had the opportunity to put these skills to practice in their careers.”

Furthermore, the professor Jerónimo and instructor Dobrila added that this panel, the teaching program at UNI, in this case, Spanish teaching, will get better because of the connection with alumni and current students creating a larger community of learning and different experiences. 

Many students and alumni students and professors assisted this event and many others had the opportunity to join through Zoom. 

There were four panelists with different experiences with Spanish teaching, which brought different points of views in teaching Spanish to the current students. During the session of the event, Dr. Jerónimo asked questions to the panelists and other students also asked questions about their unique experiences of teaching in different placements and schools including their success and challenges that the profession could bring. 

Dr. Jerónimo hopes that this event happens every year so that current students learn more about the different opportunities that they can have with this program once they graduate.