My interest in languages started in high school when I began studying Spanish. I really liked the language, and I was good at it, so I knew coming into Miami that I was going to major in Spanish. I also knew I wanted to be a teacher, so I decided to double major.

One of the first classes I took at Miami was Spanish 312, or Introduction to Spanish Linguistics. I loved it. I already had an interest in Spanish, but this class made me more aware of the structure and meaning of the language. For instance, Spaniards use the "th" sound for c's and z's, whereas Latin Americans use the "s" sound. They're completely different sounds, but they mean the same thing, and they're part of the same language.

After that I began taking more general linguistic classes, such as Introduction to Linguistics and the History of English, which looks at how historical events affected the formation of that language. I even thought about adding a third major in linguistics.

I'm in the Honor's Program at Miami, and one of my favorite professors in the program is Hays Cummins. I took an environmental research and inquiry class from him last year that focused in part on Hurricane Katrina. The class culminated with a trip to New Orleans, which is where Hays is from. We took a tour of Bourbon Street, and we also spent a couple days in a town outside the city helping people rebuild their houses. Now I’m helping him with a new undergraduate publication call Mi Cup of Tea, a publication for undergraduate research in any field.

Outside of school, I'm a swimmer in Miami's club swim team, and I'm also fairly active in St. Mary's Catholic Church in uptown Oxford. I sing in the choir, and I'm a member of the women's bible study group. It's nice because I get to hang out with a bunch of people I wouldn't hang out with otherwise.

For the spring semester, I am studying in Oviedo, Spain, which is a new study abroad program offered by Miami. Two faculty, José Domínguez-Búrdalo and Marisol del-Teso-Craviotto, will be leading the program. I'll be taking classes from them and also from some of the professors at the University of Oviedo.

At the same time, students from Oviedo will also come to Miami to study here. I plan on traveling all over, especially to Italy, so I can attend Easter mass in Rome with the pope.