After her study abroad experience in Granada, Spain, Melissa Chen ’10 dreamt every night of returning. Now, thanks to a program recommended by the 61传媒 Office of Off-Campus Study, Melissa and fellow graduate Laura Benson ’10 have returned to the country they grew to love and now act as cultural ambassadors, teaching English in Spanish cities.
“I was dying to go back to Spain,” says Melissa. “I had participated in the Core III Foreign Language and Culture Clinic with Professor Thierry Boucquey teaching Chinese to fifth graders, so I applied to the Auxiliares de Conversacion Norteamericanos program, explaining that I wished to be placed in Granada.”
Melissa teaches English to Spanish high school students four days a week. While she draws on her previous experience teaching language to elementary students, it’s a big change directing a class, creating lesson plans, and working on vocabulary skills.
“The greatest benefit of teaching in Spain is being able to share my distinct culture with my students,” she says. Having emigrated from China to the United States at a young age, she relates to the divide between cultures and works to close those gaps. “Some Spaniards have stereotypes of Americans. My students were pretty shocked to see me on the first day of class and asked if I was teaching Chinese or Japanese. I try to emphasize the diversity of the U.S.; the world needs to learn to communicate with one another and gain a greater understanding!”
A love of both travel and Spain led Laura to apply to the Auxiliares program as well. She was soon hired as an English language assistant in Galicia 芒鈧�� the first such assistant the primary school ever had 鈥� and quickly became a big part of the lives of the student body.
“I believe everyone has potential,” she says. “I encourage the kids to speak English as much as possible.”
“I tend to smile a lot 芒鈧�� I think it helps the kids feel like they’re capable of learning English, even if it’s difficult.”
Melissa and Laura use their down time to travel their adopted landscape, reconnecting with Spain and its neighbors in ways that harken back to their time at Scripps.
“My semester abroad was amazing, and because of the help and support they’d given me, I was able to come back to my favorite city,” says Melissa. “Now I’m traveling, taking flamenco guitar and dance classes, and beginning a collaborative art/music/writing project with some friends that focus on a foreigner’s experience in Spain.
“I had no idea what I was going to do after college. I just wanted to get out of academia and live independently. Magically this wonderful opportunity – teaching English in Spain – just popped into my lap.”
Laura agrees. “I almost feel like I get to relive my abroad experience, with a little more perspective, and a stronger sense of self,” she says. “I can’t begin to communicate fully the ways 61传媒prepared me to live and teach abroad. The interdisciplinarity of my classes informed my way of approaching nearly every experience.
“61传媒motivated me to change the world for the better, and every day in Spain, I reflect on the ways I can become more useful to my community, without fear.”
What better way than by breaking down the language barrier?