When I’m asked why I decide to major in Spanish, I am always caught at a loss of words. Spanish has been such an integral part of my life yet while growing up. When I decided to make it my major, it just felt right.

Throughout elementary and Middle school, I knew Spanish however I had never been in a classroom setting. When I finally took my first class in high school and took the AP exam, I still felt as though I was cheating a system and taking an easy way out. Something was still missing.

My first semester at Southwestern, I was 100% certain that I was going to be a French/Spanish major—seeing that Spanish had always come naturally to me so how hard could it be?

The very first class that I took really turned that around. Although it was difficult, I loved the challenge I felt.  At Southwestern I was given the opportunity to really dive deeply in the studies of language and that’s where I found the passion that I now have.  

After graduating I took a job at Fossil Group working in their Customer Service Department which allows me to help French and Spanish speaking customers alike. Many of the representatives that are bilingual in the department are native Spanish speakers, only speaking conversational Spanish. I’ll never forget my very first call, an angry, Spanish-speaking customer. Because I was able to discuss with him the best way to deal with his situation eloquently, I was able to calm him and turn that situation around.  In my calls I always found it important to be professional with any customer that I spoke to, English or Spanish speaking.

As I became a supervisor in the space, I was able to help develop ways on the way that the bilingual representatives are speaking to the customers. Southwestern sparked my passion for language and I have found a way to still tie it in with what I do. I know that with the education that I received at Southwestern I will continue to find new ways to integrate what I have learned in anything that I do.