Integrative Narrative
In my family we all speak English and Spanish, including my parents. Within my family we have an unspoken rule: we only speak Spanish. I’m not sure why we do it, maybe it is out of respect, custom, or because it’s our native tongue. Growing up, I always felt guilty for not knowing a certain word in English. I still remember my first week in second grade. We had to write a paragraph about our summer. In my paragraph I had to use the word “soft” in my naive mind i figured since the shampoo brand was call “suave” I could easily interexchange those words. When I got to Dr. Zapatas, SPAN 302 class, she helped me understand that what had happened to me was normal; I had nothing to be ashamed off. It’s very common that people who grow up with two languages to have trouble identifying terms in each language.
When I was having a hard time deciding what my major would be my advisor asked what my favorite subject in high school was without any hesitation I said Spanish. Even though I have spoken the language my entire life, I was unaware of proper grammar. My first class opened my eyes to so many matters: history, literature, culture, social issues, etc. Being in college I was able to learn so much more at an accelerated rate.
One of my favorite classes has been SPAN 309. I still remember the first day of class. Dr. Gomez asked why we chose to take that class. I raised my hand and stated that I had no knowledge of the history of my people. Dr. Gomez wrote on the board “1519, 1810, 1846, 1911 (among others).” He asked what the importance of these dates where. No one in class knew, we had never been thought about own history. By the end of the semester I had a clear understand of the history and politics of Latin America. I enjoyed the book, Modern Latin America, so much that I plan to reread it this summer.
Out of all the literature classes I took none were like SPAN 425. Dr Urioste presented us with many literature pieces. Some of my favorite include El Zarco, Aura, Como agua para chocolate, and La Tumba. I have read many novels, short stories, and poems in other classes. However, this class made me feel proud to be Mexican. The class focused on Mexican authors, most of which I had never heard of before. Dr. Urioste choose works that had a different themes and styles of writing. I enjoyed his class very much. It has made me eager to keep reading.
My upper division classes at CSUMB have made me proud to be a Spanish major. My teachers and my classmates share the love of not just the language but also the literature, culture, and history. Spanish is my mother tongue, I am so fortunate to have studied about my roots. I plan to teach young kids. With that I hope that they learn the importance of a second language like I have learned from my professors. I will forever be in debt to Dr. Gomez, Dr. Urioste, Dr. Zapata, Dr. Casado-Fuente, and Dr. Zeilina for the knowledge they have passed on to me. As I get closer to graduation I realize that I have grown so much in my language skills and hope to continue learning.