So there I am, in my first Spanish class. The room decorated itself with posters of Spanish matadors and maps of famous cities throughout Mexico. My teacher flew in the door, "Hola clase, buenos dias." The fact that what she had said sounded like jibberish made me come to the realization that this would be the end of me.
That year, I caught myself constantly daydreaming about being anywhere else. Spanish to me made no sense, why do I need to learn Spanish if everyone spoke English? Almost every single one of my classmates saw Spanish as the class where we would repeat Spanish terms the teacher had us say for 45 minutes. For a middle school class it was complete 'H-E-double-hockey-sticks.'
I grew up in a family where Spanish was never present. My mother spoke English, Arabic and French, and my father spoke English and German, and my sister spoke English and American Sign Language. For this, I constantly had it rough in class because I couldn't practice at home.
It wasn't until summer 2014. This is definitely a cliché phrase, but that summer was a life-changing experience. I decided to go to Barcelona with Oxbridge Academic Programs. I studied International Business and Film. I purposely did not pick a Spanish class due to my extreme lack of interest.
Just a reminder, this was the summer where FIFA was held in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. Every bar we passed people had a 'cerveza' in one hand and 'tapas' in the other as they poured their heart and soul into the 'partido'.
By this time, Spain was already out of the international tournament, so the team to cheer on was Argentina, as Messi was the best player and he happened to currently be playing for the Barcelona club team.
A couple friends and I heard screaming, as we thought someone was hurt, but it turns out Messi had just scored a goal.
We stood outside the bar as we watched the game. Some Spanish boys around my age came up to us and started speaking to me about the game, the only problem was... I had no clue what they was saying! I tried my best to speak the little Spanish I knew and I couldn't believe it but they actually understood me.
That exact moment everything clicked, all my questioned had been answered in a millisecond. Spanish was more than just a language, it was a lifestyle. It was something that instantly connected two people; a genuine bond.
After my month abroad, I can say I have never fallen in love with anything like I did with Spanish. I continued to take Spanish every year in high school and I'm currently taking classes in college.
I decided to study abroad again because it opened my eyes to how useful the language was. I studied abroad for two weeks in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Seville, Spain, where I stayed with incredible host families.
My Spanish improves every day, and I hope that one day I will be able raise my family speaking both English and Spanish, because being bilingual, to me, is one thing about myself that I treasure and because of that, Spanish will always be in my heart.
