When I first discovered that I needed to take a two-semester sequence of a foreign language of my choice in order to get my degree I was nervous. I thought that after high school I would be finished learning another language. I think that my attitude towards taking a foreign language in high school was why my experience wasn't the best. At the time, it was an inconvenience that made school even more challenging than it already was. To that extent, though, I think it provided me with the skills needed to succeed in higher education regardless of the classes that I take.
For my foreign language sequence, I chose to take French. In high school, I had taken Spanish, but I wanted to start fresh with a language that I had no real knowledge of prior to the first day of class. It became clear right from the start that taking a foreign language here at the University of Florida was going to be challenging. With class every day of the week, Monday through Friday, and exams every week and a half to two weeks, French quickly became a major part of my daily life.
My initial outlook on taking a foreign language in college was that I would simply take French for two semesters and be done with it. However, after my first semester of French I fell in love with the process of learning languages and decided that I wanted to minor in it. Everyone told me to wait and see how my second semester of French went and now that it is almost over I can safely say that I still want to minor in French.
Taking a foreign language in college has completely changed my perspective on learning other languages. It has ignited a curiosity and desire in me to learn more languages. Hopefully one day I can branch out and learn other languages, starting with Italian.