Growing up in the central valley I have always been around spanish speaking individuals, I was always spoken to in Spanish at home.I attended Franklin Elementary School and had an amazing experience. As a 21 yr old, I still look back at the times I lived in this school. It warms my heart to still remember all the names of my teachers to whom I will forever be in debt with for their teaching. The best memories are sitting under a big oak tree and sharing hot cheetos with my classmates after a long game of dodgeball. My not so favorite memories are being pulled out of class for ESL tutoring. Regardless of all the negative aspects, I am thrilled to call that place my school. My face lights up with just the thought of memories. As a young girl, education was always a priority in my family. The most important things for my mother was for me to always remember my roots, my blood, my language, and to earn an education. My mother passed away 10 yrs ago, that has helped to push myself through school and make her proud of me. In high school my Spanish teacher became very upset when I pronounced my name with an American accent. She said, I should always say my name how it pronounced in Spanish. She was right, I felt as if I was loosing my culture the one things my parents wanted me to hang on too. I enjoyed that first Spanish class and wanted to continue learning about my heritage and my language. When I arrived at CSUMB I was an undeclared student I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I then decided I wanted to teach. Unfortunately I wasn't able to enroll in the Liberal Studies field because my classes didn't qualify. I then realized I wanted to be a Spanish teacher. I want to be able to help the youth the way Mrs. Santana helped me in high school. Along the way I hope to perfect my Spanish and be able to efficiently translate in any situation that comes my way. To me, language has always been an important part in my life. My parents very commonly asked me to translate for them. I believe that everyone should be bilingual. There isn’t a right or wrong choice when it comes to the languages. Children should be exposed to languages at an early age in order to learn a language fluently. With the experiences I had in elementary school I yearn to make kids have a great experience as well.I plan to graduate from CSU Monterey Bay in May 2016 with a B. A. in Spanish and plan to enroll at CSU Stanislaus in Fall of 2016 to obtain my teaching credentials. I hope to learn the necessary skills to be able to facilitate the process of learning a new language. I wish to become a teacher and hold a special spot in the lives of my students just like my teachers hold one in my heart.