For my last International Affairs scholars participation requirement of the fall semester, I decided to volunteer. I volunteered with The Ohio State University’s Spanish and Potuguese department for my service event. This event took place on November seventh at Thompson Library and Lazenby Hall.
The purpose of this event was primarily a “test run” for the university. What I mean by this is that we invited Whetstone High school students to our campus and provided them with access to our campus’s extensive resources, such as the Thompson Library. The goal of this was not only to provide the high schoolers with access to our library, but also to see if this method of outreach to urban school districts was plausible, and it was. The event ran smoothly and was extremely successful due to the volunteers (including myself) from the Spanish and Portuguese department.
This event was more than just helpful for the students, it was a very empowering and stimulating experience for me as well. Working with the kids made me realize I had a passion for it. That day, I sat down with my Spanish professor (another volunteer) and discussed my plans for the future with him. He helped me realize that I can do anything I wanted to do and still be happy. This conversation was invaluable to me, and I will never forget it. A couple weeks passed by and I decided to change my major to Foreign Language Education.
I was inspired by the sense of accomplishment working with the high schoolers that day gave me, and I wanted to learn more. I knew I wanted to use Spanish in my future job as well, so I have now set my sight on being a Spanish teacher. I believe I would truly enjoy my job and feel satisfied with myself. This job is more important than just making me happy, by choosing to be a Spanish teacher I have a lasting impact on the lives of the kids I teach. With the Spanish language and culture spreading rapidly through the United States, the US needs more passionate teachers to get kids excited to learn Spanish. I believe this is a very important job in the topic of International Affairs because accepting Spanish in our country is a serious issue today.
This experience was one of a kind and truly life changing. I believe when I look back on life and ask myself why I decide to become a teacher, I will recall this day I spent working with inner city high school students. I enjoyed every moment of the day and would gladly do it again.
I consider myself very thankful to have had this wonderful opportunity and I believe OSU is a unique school for being able to cater such an experience. I don’t think I could have had the same experience at many other universities and for choosing OSU , I am grateful. In retrospect, I am very glad I went to this event and I wholeheartedly believe it has changed my life for the better.