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Year in Review

[ “Year in Review”  is where you should reflect on the past year and show how you have evolved as a person and as a student.  You may want to focus on your growth in a particular area (as a leader, scholar, researcher, etc.) or you may want to talk about your overall experience over the past year.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

My Global Awareness

Recently for my Intermediate Spanish Composition course, I interviewed a native Spanish speaker for an article project in class. I interview Ivonne Ortiz, a native Puerto Rican that has lived in both Puerto Rico and the United States throughout her life. When I met with Ivonne, we talked for over 30 minutes about her life in the States versus her childhood life in Puerto Rico, and I took away so much from this experience. Ivonne proudly described her native culture, emphasizing the importance of family and community in everyday life on the island. She raved about the delicious food, the wonderful music, and the beautiful beaches that blend together to create such a bright culture. According to Ivonne, this tight-knit, community-oriented culture is something found in all of Latin America, ranging from the Argentinians in South America to the Mexicans just south of us. In her eyes, these qualities that span across majority of the Western Hemisphere make all of Latin America its own tight-knit, loving community- no matter one’s nationality or ethnicity.

However, according to Ivonne, in the United States, this tight-knit, loving society is not present. She told me of incidents while living in the States where people would judge, criticize, or belittle her because of her heritage. Although difficult, Ivonne has learned from these experiences and has come to respect that everyone is different. When asked if she would rather continue living in Puerto Rico or the U.S., Ivonne told me she would rather return to Puerto Rico for her strong love for her entire island family.

This experience helped me grow in my own understanding of Latino culture and how it’s specialized in Puerto Rico. I now know the importance of family in Latino families and the immense love and pride each and every Latino has in their heart for their native country and culture. Being a Foreign Language Education major, this experience will help me in my future in teaching my future students about not only the Spanish language, but the cultural aspect as well. I will also work to emphasize with my students the importance of acceptance, as each and every individual- despite their race, ethnicity, gender, etc.- should not be discriminated against, but instead praised and appreciated, like those in Puerto Rico and Latin American culture.

Career

[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career.  Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

“Las Libretas de Campo” in Spanish 3401- An Artifact

In my Advanced Spanish Grammar class this semester, we’ve had an ongoing assignment throughout the semester called “Libretas de Campo” or Field Notebooks. With these “Libretas”, students are tasked in finding examples of Spanish being used in the real world around them through advertisements, articles, social media, and more. These examples have to tie to the grammatical concepts we are discussing in class. Attached is a portion of my first every Field Notebook I completed in this course, where we had to find several examples of Spanish being used in terms of Morphology in Spanish vocabulary and “Spanglish”. I found numerous examples of interesting uses of Spanish in the real world through newspapers, photos, Twitter and Facebook.

These assignments have been EXTREMELY helpful with my Spanish comprehension and knowledge. It has opened my eyes to how natives utilize their beloved lanaguge in new ways I never learned in the classroom the past 7 years. Every single Spanish-speaking nation- from Colombia to Honduras to Spain- all have their own form of the language with unique words, phrases, and conjugations, and my exposure to numerous different paths of the language will enhance my ability to communicate and utilize Spanish with natives across the globe. My “Libretas” have also changed my perception on Spanish grammar and syntax, as many natives have found new ways to communicate- sometimes without using “correct” grammar to do so. These experiences now make me more confident in my Spanish-speaking skills, as not only now do I know some tips and tricks for certain words and phrases in the Spanish-speaking world, but also I now know I don’t need to have perfect, flawless grammar in Spanish in order to use the language fluently and effectively, allowing me to be okay with making mistakes as I speak. It’s a learning process, and my “Libretas de Campo” have surely shown me that.

About Me

Hello! My name is Kevin Morrissey, and I am a current first year at The Ohio State University! I am from Mason, Ohio, which is just north of Cincinnati. I am currently studying Foreign Language Education with a specialization in Spanish in hopes of becoming a high school Spanish teacher! My mother is also a Spanish teacher and taught me bits of the language as a child, and I would love to follow in her footsteps in becoming an educator just like her! Here at OSU I am in the Advocates for Community and Education Scholars (ACES) Program, and I am also involved in several other school organizations, including The Ohio State Jump Rope Club, Cru, and I was just accepted into the Student Alumni Council! With my free times, I enjoy jumping rope, reading, hanging out with my friends, and exploring campus and Columbus! I am very blessed and honored to be a student at this incredible university and plan to continue loving every moment I have on campus! Go Bucks!