I May Stink at Math, but I Know Spanish!

When I was in eighth grade, we had the choice of taking French or Spanish. It was at this point in my life that I decided I wanted to study Spanish. Having just watched the story of Selena Quintanilla, the beautiful and talented hispanic singer whose life was taken at 23, I was inspired to learn her unique culture and eeking to master the language. And so, I embarked on my Spanish academia, called myself Selena and prepared to roll my R's and develop a cool accent.

I continued to take Spanish all through high school as well, eventually working up to AP Spanish my senior year. When I got to college I once again faced another choice in my curriculum: A foreign language or computer science. When I finished, that was it. The requirement had been filled. I wouldn't have to ever take a Spanish class for the rest of my college career.

It was a quarter into my freshman year that I had to declare my minor. So, I considered this: I was in the field of communications and the Spanish subject had become a large part in academics for me. There was hardly a day that passed in which I was not exposed to Spanish. I felt like I would be totally throwing away all I had built up for the past five years. Senora Waldman would be so displeased!

And so I minored in Spanish, partly because of separation anxiety, but also because I knew it was smart. I will never forget something my advisor told me junior year:

"I'm proud to see you have stuck with Spanish as your minor. We don't have enough students with a communications/language combo. More students need to do that."

His words were so reassuring. So what if I squeeked by calculus by a point? I can speak Spanish!

So for those of you considering a minor in a foreign language or, if you can handle it, a double major in communications and a language, DO IT. This day in age, it will stand out on your resume and be able to utilize it in this ever increasing bilingual workforce.

Buenas suerte, amigos.