I completed my Master of Arts Degree in Spanish at Saint Louis University in 1992. The program's generalist curriculum allowed me to take graduate courses in Peninsular and Latin American literature, philosophy, and culture. I also studied linguistics, Spanish-English contrast analysis, and foreign language teaching methods.

I held a graduate teaching assistantship in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and taught two undergraduate Spanish language courses per semester while enrolled in the program. My professors and mentors inspired me to "adopt" Spanish as a second language and apply the knowledge and skills gained in the M.A program toward a career in teaching. My experience in this program was rewarding and life-changing.

As a graduate student and TA, I was completely immersed in the Spanish language through academics, campus life, teaching, and doing the things that mattered most to me:

• Studying Spanish language and Hispanic culture;
• Living and learning among native speakers on campus;
• Experiencing the nuances of second language acquisition.

These enriching experiences heightened my appreciation and enthusiasm for teaching and learning Spanish and allowed me to cultivate a lifelong connection to the Spanish-speaking world.

Master's Thesis

Análisis crítico de Las Cartas de relación escritas por Hernán Cortés (1519-1526)

Achievement

The Spanish M.A. program at SLU was my opportunity to profoundly explore the Spanish language and develop a foundational understanding of Hispanic culture and civilization.

I completed the M.A in Spanish in 1992 and taught Spanish at several local high schools, public and private while exploring music and the recording arts in my spare time. In 1995, I returned to SLU to work full-time as the Manager of the Language Learning Center in the College of Arts & Sciences.

I continued teaching Spanish at St. Louis University and took courses in Brazilian Portuguese, French, Russian, and other subjects including math and science. I wanted to explore everything that intrigued me. The guitar was another passion.

Ultimately, I realized that my love for learning languages was also a calling to be a teacher. I experimented with instructional technology and multimedia as tools for teaching Spanish and found tremendous purpose in helping other language instructors use "edtech" more effectively in their classes.

In March 2003, I was accepted into the Education Specialist program in Educational Technology at the University of Missouri's School of Information Science and Learning Technologies.