Overall Reflective Narrative
OVERALL INTEGRATIVE NARRATIVE
From a very early age, I wanted to be a writer. My first attempts to write stories were drawings and basic words. I found that to tell stories was something that I really love. Some people have asked me why I enjoy to doing that. “It is simple,” I said, “when you are not completely happy with the world that surrounds you, then you start creating your own world.” I was fascinated with books since my childhood. I devoured all kind of novels that were appropriate for my age and science books on different topics. In one of those pages, I remember that I read that “a mediocre writer is the one that writes more than what he reads.”
Even though my passion for numbers led me in the beginning of my academic journey to a different path, my passion for literature remained alive inside me. My original plan was to finish my Math major, and perhaps, when I would retire, to approach a Spanish degree and explore that exciting world of words, imagination and beauty. But with the support of the Spanish department from CSU Monterey Bay, I found a way to fulfill another of my dreams and reunite myself with the passion of writing.
For a Spanish native speaker it could seem that this program has nothing to offer, but it was a huge change in my educational life to be part of the Spanish Program in CSU Monterey Bay. The Spanish program helped me to develop many of my first language skills that I had learned after twelve years of school in my original country. With the support of the professional staff of this department, I improved the proficiency of my language in areas such as grammar, literature knowledge and critical analysis. The linguistic classes helped me to understand how the Spanish language structure works. I have a better idea about written and phonetic relation of words, and how important this relation is for language as a whole. Through this program, I have the opportunity to explore the origins of my language, different cultures where Spanish is the main tool of communication, and many valuable pieces of literature written in the beautiful language of Cervantes. I have the chance to travel to different Hispanic cultures that share the same verbal and writing communication. By this, I understand the idiosyncrasies of different people from different cultures and times, and I value the importance of language as the main instrument to express feelings, emotions, knowledge, expectations, fantasy and history.
Being part of this wonderful program has been one of the best decisions that I have taken in my life. Every single class was a portal for so many sparks of knowledge that have contributed to the human being that I am now. All things that I have learned in the Spanish program of CSU Monterey Bay will be a treasure that belongs to me forever. No one and nothing could take that away from me. Knowledge is a gift that I will transmit to others as an educator. Because education is the most valuable present that we can share with those that are in the search of their dreams.