I write to you from the patio of my Aunt & Uncle's condo in Pompano Bay, Florida. I am enjoying a week's vacation here, after burning myself out and running myself deep into the ground..
My last post was in September, just a few weeks after my studies at Northern Arizona University began, with my Salvadoran experience fresh in my mind. I reflected on a year's length of time and the effect it has had on my life. I continue to hold my memories in the front of my mind, close to my heart, and each day proves to be a realisation of the growth that took place for me in that Central American country. My entire perception changed, and there's no going back to where I came from before my trip.
To summarise, my first (full) academic year at NAU was enjoyable. I skated through fall semester, acclimating myself to my hometown through a different lens and readjusting to a life I'd left behind. I moved out of my parents' house to a small apartment downtown with a few high school friends. I had returned to Baskin Robbins in April after I came back to Flagstaff; but at the end of July, I also started working for NAU in the office of student financial aid, in the scholarships department. Although this kept me insanely busy, I could not have learned as much financial information otherwise. I learned about loans, and grants, scholarships, and budgeting. While balancing these two jobs, I started fall classes with 14 credits that included French 101, Spanish 301 (Advanced Grammar), POS 201 (Intro to Politics), and MAT 102 (Algebra). Even though it may seem like I was short on time, I miss fall semester in comparison to that of spring. I was able to take two 'challenge-exams' (test for credit) in both SPA 303 (Advanced Conversation) and SPA 304w (Intermediate Composition and an 'NAU Junior Writing requirement'). These 6 credits added up to 20 credits for the whole semester. I spent my free time working out and running almost every day. I began to make friends and enjoy Flagstaff a lot more. One of my favorite parts of fall is football season and every other Saturday I found myself at the NAU Skydome spotting with my Dad or watching the game in the stands. Fall in Flagstaff is very beautiful. I enjoyed hiking and hanging out. Fall seemed very peaceful in comparison to what would be semester two. . .
As winter break began, I continued my studies with a short four week winter session class POS 220 (Arizona and Federal Constitution). This class is required to teach in the state of Arizona. It was an interesting class and I learned a great deal in a short amount of time. In addition to this class, I continued to work at Financial Aid and Baskin Robbins. We had family friends come visit us from Michigan and we went to the Grand Canyon and up to Snowbowl. It was a great break.
Even though I had began teaching English as a second language at the Flagstaff Community Murdoch Center in the fall of 2011, the class fell through a couple of weeks into October, which I attribute to lack of Hispanic community in Flagstaff, as well as for political reasons (SB1070, etcetera). As we entered 2012, however, I was asked to take over the Spanish class in place of English. I jumped at the opportunity which sounded not only like great experience, but also as a way to enjoy both of my passions -- teaching and Spanish. The Murdoch Center, which is not NAU associated, but rather a community center, has a long history in Flagstaff. A history I was very lucky to take part in. The NAU Marketing department caught wind of my volunteerism and published the following story, which explains itself:
http://nau.edu/News/Articles/2012/03/Kellen-Brandel-educates-others-amidst-his-own-school-
http://nau.edu/News/Articles/2012/03/Kellen-Brandel-educates-others-amidst-his-own-school-schedule/
In addition to teaching, and maintaining a work schedule between the two jobs of 25-30 hours per week, I took 18 credits split between 7 classes. (Now you understand the difference between fall and spring semesters..and how I burnt myself out). My seven classes in the spring were GLG 112 (Geologic Disasters), GLG 112-L (and the lab that went with it), French 102, Spanish 404 (Advanced Writing Composition), MUS 357 (University Singers), BME 300 (Structured English Immersion), and EDF 200 (Intro to Education). This semester was very enjoyable, despite the business.
My University singers class was an absolute blast! I was so glad to be back in a musical ensemble. I didn't realise how much I missed band. The class met once a week every Wednesday night and we had three concerts over the semester. It was the highlight of my week, where I would forget about all my tasks and to-do lists, and just participate in something bigger than me. I wish I had done this class in the fall.
To speak broadly of my classes, I felt very interested and engaged, but altogether, I thoroughly enjoyed second semester much more than first. Avec (with) le français, I quickly took to the language, as it is so close to Spanish grammatically speaking. Sure the vocabulary and verbs and verb conjugations are very different but there are similar concepts and roots. For my classmates, who struggled with gender and number adjective agreements, and direct and indirect object pronouns, I easily shrugged these aside smiling as Spanish follows the same patterns. Roots also helped me a ton! For example the verb 'to live' in Spanish is vivir, while in French it is vivre. French also uses a different personal pronoun subject to distinguish between informal and formal interactions (like Spanish!) Tú became tu, while usted became vous. For those of you language geeks, I found it interesting that there is no ustedes form, but rather vous is used in place of both ud., uds., and vosotros. Unlike Spanish, French can not omit the subject so como/comes/come/comemos/coméis/comen becomes je mange, tu manges, il/elle mange, nous mangeons, vous mangez, ils/elles mangent. The accent also about killed me! The pronunciation of the letters is very, very different and you almost never pronounce the last letter of the word, unless it is followed by a word that begins with a vowel. Mais, on fin, je dirais que j'ai appris beaucoup du français et que aussi, je l'aime. Je veux suivre avec cette langue. (Pero al fin, diría que he aprendido mucho del francés y que también, a mí me gusta. Quiero seguir con esta lengua.) (English) But, finally, I would say that I have learned a lot of French and that also, I love it. I want to continue with this language.
My
French class was four days a week (Mon.-Thurs.) 10:20a - 11:10a. It quickly became my favorite class, mostly in part to my professor; an older French lady Madame Bauge. She was hilarious and very intellectual. More than anything, she was invested into us - her students - and it was great to have a teacher who put so much into our educations. It was also great to learn a language from the start, as I too was teaching Spanish at the Murdoch Center from its beginning and therefore was able to compare the style of teaching from Madame Bauge to my own linguistic style of teaching.
Another favorite class of mine was my Geological Disasters course that was for my Liberal Studies (GEN. ED.) course guide requirements. Again, my professor was top notch. She took a subject she was very knowledgeable in and broke in down so that anyone could understand it, using a combination of technology, lecture, and homework to teach us the material. Her passion shown through every lesson. If there's anything a good teacher needs, it is passion.
My Spanish composition class was also a highlight. We read three (huge) literary works in Juanita Heredia's class and I realised how important it is to read in your target language (not that I didn't think this before, but in hindsight, I see such an improvement in my writing and reading skills). I don't think I could have built my Spanish in any better way: spending 8 months in El Salvador constantly communicating, Spanish Grammar, orthography and syllabation rules, and ending with a composition/literary class. I worked harder than I have worked in any class (EVER) and I am desperately hoping that pays off in an "A" (grades aren't posted until this Fri. the 18th)! We wrote 5 compositions, plus a final project of 5-6 pages and a final exam that I also wrote 6 pages for. My final project was an open theme of any historical research in Latin America. I debated different themes but eventually wrote my paper on the Relationship and Influence of the United States in El Salvador across the centuries. The paper was worth thirty-five percent of my entire grade in the class and I received a 95% on it. I couldn't have been happier.
I could continue to talk about my classes, but I'd rather focus on the next journey in my life. . .
G R A N A D A , S P A I N
This whole year, I have been working on my application and on April 1, I submitted it. I will be studying abroad officially (found out a few weeks ago I was admitted!!) next year in Granada, Spain, at the Universidad de Granada, one of the oldest schools in Europe (cerca 1500). I am admitted into the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras (Arts and Letters equivalent here). I will be studying the entire academic year which starts September 24th and ends July 11th. I am so excited! The program is a bilateral exchange with NAU which means I pay tuition through NAU which means my AIMS (Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards) Scholarship will pay for my entire tuition! In addition the the AIMS, I have (so far) received three scholarships (out of the many that I applied for). I was awarded the NAU Department of Modern Language's Sam Borazon Memorial scholarship, the Edith Haner Foundation scholarship, as well as the Global Opportunities Scholarship, all three totalling $2,500. This has been a huge relief and an accomplishment I'm very proud of. I hope to hear from some more scholarships as well as continuing to save up money in preparation for my trip. I will need to cover airfare, rent, and the cost of living. I could not be more excited!
I feel like this whole year I've spent working will finally pay off. I am moving into my parents at the end of May in order to save even more money as I continue my job at Baskin Robbins (I put in my two weeks at Financial Aid at the end of April). In addition, I am taking summer school to knock out some credits. After my third semester at NAU, I will have 61 credits (most full time students have 45 at this time), which places me at the same level as those of my peers who started university straight out of high school.
I will be living with a host family in Granada as this is the best way to truly immerse myself in the language, which is the whole reason I am going.
Right now, I am writing from the patio of my Aunt & Uncle's condo in Pompano Bay, Florida. I arrived yesterday after all day of traveling (Phoenix to Charlotte, NC, and then to West Palm Beach, FL). I am here to recharge my batteries and enjoy some time away from everything! We are going to try to visit the Spanish Consulate while I am here, although I will have to make a Los Angeles trip at some point because I cannot attain my VISA more than 3 months prior to my departure.
After my academic program ends in Spain, I want to travel around Spain and eventually make it over to France. I am hoping to find a month immersion program in France to practice my French and hone in on it. If I can, potentially I can petition to earn credit and come back with a minor in French (as I will be taking French II and III while studying at the Univ. of Granada). I have several friends in Europe and hope I might be able to connect with them. Finances will determine a lot, but if my peers can justify taking out loans to attend university across the country, I might be able to justify it to travel across the world.
When I return from Spain, I will have a full year left at NAU and I can walk in the spring of 2014, on track with my graduating high school peers of 2010. I would have to student teach in the fall of 2014 and then I am planning on joining the Peace Corps right after (before Graduate School). I know a lot of this is subject to change, but having a plan helps me feel rooted and motivated. At some point, I would love to return to El Salvador and perhaps participate in the observation of their presidential elections, which CIS (the NGO with which I volunteered) runs.
I am feeling optimistic and happy. I will continue to use this blog as I travel to Europe and experience an entirely different Spanish. I will try to post at least once more before I leave.
Again, thank you for reading and continuing to support me in all that I do.
Que Dios les bendiga (God bless you).
