Modern Languages and Literatures Alumni News

Trinity University

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures

ALUMNI NEWS

CLASSES OF 2005-09

Maria Castaneda '07. Majors: French, Spanish. Post-grad plans: being an English as a foreign language teacher at a primary school in France. Comments: "I definitely recommend staying abroad as long as possible if you want to learn another language."

Victoria Dawson '07. Majors: French & International Studies Post Grad Plans: Teaching English at a Secondary School in France before pursuing an Masters Degree in International Relations/Affairs in Europe. Comments: “Studying abroad for one semester was crucial to my studying French but staying for the entire year was the most rewarding decision of my Trinity education aside from studying a language in and of itself.”

Alyssa Ann Kenyon '07. Majors: International Business and Spanish Majors. Post-grad: Peace Corps in Costa Rica. Comments: "I personally feel that my education at Trinity University has been a blessing and has more than adequately prepared me for whatever I may face in my future."

Kristen Ng '07. Majors: Chinese, Political Science, Spanish, English. Post-grad plans: Pursuing a dual JD/PhD at State University of New York, Buffalo, with a concentration in Political Science. "Languages are such an important asset in today's world. I believe that an important factor of my acceptances into graduate and law schools are languages. The most important part of any school/program are the professors. Trinity's program has the best professors to encourage the education of a second, third, or even fourth language! As of now, I am starting on French, and I have my professors to thank for helping my fluency in Spanish and Chinese. The professors here are ever-encouraging and always on hand to help and advise."

Evan O'Dea ’07. Majors: Math, Spanish. Post-grad plans: JET Program in Japan.

Kirsten Beckham '07. Majors: Humanities and Spanish. Post grad plans: fifth year Masters Program for elementary education at Trinity. "Studying abroad was the best thing I did at Trinity. I had lots of support in choosing a program that really suited me. Being able to teach English to children in Spain was not only fun and practical; it got me more credit hours at Trinity than any other semester. I hope to go back and teach English again."

Rosalee Maffitt '06. Major: French. Post-grad: working as an assistant English teacher with the JET Program in Shibata in the northeastern part of the main island of Honshu in the Miyagi Prefecture. See her Japan blog here: http://rosaleeinjapan.blog.com/

Sarah Woodell '06. Major: French and International Business. Post-grad: attending SMU law school.

Sarah Hutt '06. Majors: Political Science and Chinese. Post-grad: attending Middlebury Language School then graduate school in International Relations. "I cannot fully explain what amazing doors are opened to you as a Chinese speaker. Friends I've made, places I've traveled, and experiences I'll cherish could never have materialized without this skill to enhance and deepen my life goals. Seek the greatest challenge in language study and your efforts will repay you in countless ways."

Cristeta Smith '06. Majors: B.S. in International Business and Finance; B.A. in Chinese. Post-grad: MBA summer program at Copenhagen School of Business. "Learning Chinese was the wisest decision I've made."

Jennifer Chun '06. Majors: Chinese and Biology. Post-Grad: attending medical school at Pennsylvania State College of Medicine.

"It was great to have my Chinese classes to balance out my pre-med science classes . I would recommend Chinese classes to anyone."

Christine Grant '06. Majors: B.A. in Chinese and B.S. in Accounting. Post-grad: pursuing a Masters in Accounting at University of Texas, Austin. "The Chinese Program at Trinity has provided me with many job and educational opportunities, including the opportunity to visit China. Trinity’s Chinese program was a wonderful experience and I hope to continue my Chinese education in the future."

Leigh Byford '06. Majors: French, Political Science, Economics. Post-grad: pursuing a master's degree at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas in Austin.

Samantha Voelker '06. Majors: International Studies and French. Post-grad: currently Administrative Assistant for the Consul to Belgium; waiting on the results of the Foreign Service Exam.

Sarah Long '06. Majors: Art History and German. Post-grad: planning to study German art in graduate school.

Carlo Schmidt '06. Majors: Religion and German. Post-grad: Heading to Harvard Divinity School for their Master of Divinity program.

Meghan McCarthy '06. Majors: Spanish. Post-grad: Pursuing the Fifth Year program at Trinity for the Master's Degree in Elementary Education. Future plans: Teach Spanish to students from kindergarten through fifth grade. "I really think that the education I received from the Spanish department at Trinity was invaluable to influencing my career choice. Although I had already wanted to be an elementary school teacher, before coming to Trinity I had never even considered teaching Spanish at the elementary school level. However, as I began taking Spanish classes at Trinity, the obvious passion all of the professors have for the language inspired me to combine my own two passions: teaching and Spanish. Several of the professors also encouraged me to study abroad, and my choice to study in Salamanca, Spain for a semester is one I will never forget and it was an experience that changed my life. The Spanish classes I took at Trinity, in combination with my study abroad experience, not only improved my Spanish speaking, reading, and writing abilities, but it also increased the confidence I have in myself about my Spanish, which in turn made me love the language even more. I did not have one bad experience with any of the classes I took during undergrad, and am so glad that I had the opportunity to continue taking classes throughout college. I only hope that I can instill in my own students someday the same passion for the language that my Spanish professors at Trinity instilled in me!"

Nicole Stockenberger '06 Majors: Spanish, Economics, International Studies. Currently: Pursuing a career in public interest law specifically dealing with human rights issues, international law, and/or immigration Law. "Of all of my majors at Trinity , I do feel that Spanish has had more practical applications in my day to day post graduate life. Consequently, I’ve come to the conclusion that it has been, and will continue to be one of the most valuable skills that I learned at Trinity. For example, I've already used what I learned when I did my internship last summer in Madrid at Economistas sin Fronteras, and because Spanish is most transferable skill that I have which I can bring to any job in every industry. In fact, during my job search many of the positions that employers are looking to fill specifically ask for the applicant to be bilingual in English and Spanish."

Lisa Thoman '06 Majors: Spanish. Currently: Working in the sales department of Univision in Dallas. "The Spanish major definitely helped me to get this job. I think that the both Spanish language classes and Hispanic culture classes were extremely important in preparing me for a job that requires about 1/3 Spanish spoken on a daily basis. I also think that the Language Across the Curriculum classes, such as Doing Business in Latin America and Border Relations, and the cultural and history Spanish classes were extremely relevant and important. I wish that Trinity had offered a Spanish for Business class and had more hands on, speaking opportunities, such as intercambios with local teenagers who speak Spanish or tutoring kids who need help learning English."

Amy Lofton '06 Majors: Spanish. Currently: Working in regulatory and recruiting for SAM Clinical Research Center in San Antonio. Future plans: Dual masters degree in Public Health and International Affairs. "I would like to work for an international health organization, like Doctors Without Borders, something along those lines. So, Spanish is definitely important in that field, especially since I am mostly interested in Latin America and Northern Africa."

Candice Breda Prebish '06 Majors: Spanish. Currently: Working for a company in Houston that specializes in immigration. "The Spanish program has helped me immensely, mainly in dealing with foreign consulates. It is much easier to get them to help you if you are speaking their own language. Further, many of my co-workers speak Spanish and it has turned into the office language, which I would be excluded from had I not taken Spanish."

Nathaniel Halvorson '06 Majors: Spanish and English. Currently: co-chairman of a non-profit tutoring/mentoring after-school program for kids in San Antonio. "I thought the Spanish major was great, however without going abroad after sophomore year I would have struggled a lot. I was also an English major, so it was great to have so much Spanish literature- it helped fill in the gaps from my English major. I especially enjoyed my last seminar on identidad en Sur America."

Lindsay Calvert '06 Majors: Spanish and International Studies. Currently: Program Coordinator for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program at The Institute of International Education in Houston . "Regarding my Spanish education in the department I think that learning was easier and better because of the passionate faculty. The best was the variety of classes, with some of them departing far from classic literature –these classes make you think more."

Jackie McLean '06 Majors: Spanish. Currently: Endeavour International Corp, an oil and gas exploration & production company. Post-grad: University of New Mexico School of Law. "I absolutely loved majoring in Spanish! I think that the courses are really interesting and I loved all my professors (especially Dr. Stroud!). I think one of the main things I got from the Spanish program is it made me a better writer. I really liked the emphasis on writing and I will definitely need it for law school. It really helped me become a better critical thinker and helped me think out what I wanted to say since I had to do it in another language. Finally, I developed more of an appreciation for for literature and an actual interest in it. I kept many of my books and look up who I thought were among my favorite authors and find their other works. All my professors were always so excited about what we were studying so I knew it had to be interesting."

Maria Pugliese '06. Majors: Spanish. Currently: a consultant at the North American Development Bank in San Antonio. "I gained a lot through the Spanish program. It allowed me to take at least one Spanish course a semester so I could maintain and strengthen my Spanish. The best way for me to learn was my study abroad program, which the Department allowed me to gain plenty of credits so I could still graduate on time."

George Ross '05. Majors: Spanish and Business. Currently: Working at the public relations firm, Joel Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher, in New York City. "When looking into career possibilities, potential employers were consistently excited that I had majored in Spanish. After being out in the job market for just a few months, it was clear to me that people really see Spanish as a huge asset to have as our national landscape evolves in the 21st century. I found that in general, most employers put very little stock in majors. However, Spanish is a different story, because it is not something that can just be learned on the job. It is a skill that really jumps out at people. My Spanish major has already opened up many career options in the business world that even my business major friends would not have access to."

Allison Jesse '05. Majors: Spanish and Psychology. Currently: Professional Research Assistant at Kempe Children's Center in Denver, CO. Future plans: Graduate school in Clinical or Developmental Psychology. "I really enjoyed my Spanish classes at Trinity and am glad I decided to major. They helped me not only learn the language, but learn about the literature and other aspects of the culture."

Sarah Gamboa '05. Major: Spanish. Post-grad: MAT at Trinity. Currently: ESL teacher at Jackson Middle School. "While I got an amazing foundation in Spanish and Latin American history, culture, and literature, due to the lack of upper-division conversational classes, I feel that my conversational skills are lacking. I was unable to spend any time abroad due to a scholarship and its stipulations, so I feel that having a class where all of the assessment is on speaking rather than writing could improve the program and benefit students who, like me, are unable to spend time abroad."

Libby Hugetz '05. Majors: Chinese and International Studies. Post-grad: studying and living in Taipei. "I discovered the Chinese program at Trinity as a freshman, and it has led me to places I never dreamed of seeing. The opportunity to observe China's fascinating transformations--politically, economically, and culturally--has been invaluable. I'm unsure as to where these experiences will lead me, but I'm sure that it will be an adventure."

Katherine Moose '05. Major: Chinese. Post-grad: received a Taiwan Fellowship to earn my M.A. in Political Science at National Taiwan Normal University. "My Chinese studies will enable me to participate in the contemporary, globalizing world through endless possibilities. The Trinity Chinese Program empowered me to pursue my dreams abroad and here!"

Sam Michael ‘05. Majors: Chinese and Business Administration. Post-grad: one year internship with industrial real-estate company ProLogis at their Chinese headquarters in Shanghai. "Thanks to my ability to speak Chinese, I am now able to communicate with 1.3 billion more people than before. Learning Chinese has made possible an enormous array of experiences I would otherwise never have had."

Bianca Abate '05. Majors: Chinese, Spanish and Finance. Post-grad: attending a year long Chinese language program and pursuing the MA in international business at National Taiwan University. "I would have never predicted that I would one day study Chinese, but now I cannot imagine my life without it! If you want to be equipped with the right tools for an exciting international life full of promise and success, the best advice I can give is to take Chinese at Trinity University. The program and faculty are outstanding."

Kyle Brillante '05. Major: Chinese. Post-grad: received a Pre-emptive Fellowship to pursue a Master's Degree at the University of Texas at Austin in Women's & Gender Studies. "Learning Chinese was by far the best decision I made at Trinity because it not only allowed me the opportunity to study abroad and conduct and publish research, but it also prepared me for graduate school."

Artie Merschat '05. Major: Chinese. Post-grad: University of Notre Dame Law School. "Chinese and the Trinity Chinese Dept. have opened up amazing opportunities for me I would not have had with another degree. They have enabled me to travel and study in China for free twice, and without Chinese I would not have had as much ease getting into law school. Trade with China is expanding exponentially and Asian international law is a field the Chinese dept. provides a solid foundation to study."

Cari Zimmerman '05. Majors: Spanish, Psychology. Post-grad: pursuing the PhD in cognitive psychology at FSU. "Studying abroad in Spain was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I would definitely recommend that everyone take advantage of Trinity's great department to learn a second language. In fact, I love languages so much that I'm currently teaching myself Arabic!"

Lucy Martinez '05. Majors: French and American Intercultural Studies. Post-grad: Just completed her M.A.T. at Trinity and will be teaching 2nd grade in Harlandale ISD.