María writes:
“Learning and speaking different languages has been such a valuable tool that has opened doors for awesome opportunities! I grew up in Mexico, learning English in a bilingual school, and always appreciated the advantage of speaking two languages. This appreciation grew more in the 7th grade, when my family moved to Texas and I was able to adapt to the change with relative ease. My interest in languages only grew when I visited my brother, who lives in Hamburg, during my freshman year in college and took German classes during my stay. That was the start of my passion for learning German language and culture. It was also what drove me to work as a counselor at a summer camp in northern Germany, which became my MOST memorable and fun summer yet! All of these experiences and interests have led me to study Speech-Language Pathology while continuing to learn German at the UW. The experience of learning German while also studying what goes on in the brain and speech systems as we speak has been incredibly rewarding and interesting.”