I was first drawn to the Global Engagement Minor by my love of languages; since middle school, my dream has been to learn as many as possible. After studying French in high school, which led me to my first intercultural immersion experiences, I decided to give Spanish learning my all at Wesleyan. My study of Spanish has proved to be a cornerstone of my GEM experience. In the spring of my junior year, I studied abroad in Madrid. Upon my return, I’ve continued my language learning in Latin American studies seminars, which have widened my understanding of the Spanish-speaking world. I’ve also chosen global perspectives courses about regions unrelated to either my language-learning or my American and British literature requirements for the English major. My courses in African women’s history and South Asian literature have broadened the geographical scope of my knowledge, while enhancing my longtime interests in history, gender studies, and literature with new perspectives.
The work I’ve done across the various components of the minor has deepened my thinking around language– in many senses of the word. I now no longer think of language as simply a way to speak to new people, but as a much more multidimensional area of study. I’ve discovered interests in sociolinguistics and literary translation; explored reading in another language as a unique way to absorb cultural knowledge; and absorbed perspectives from a variety of literary canons. GEM has been a wonderful opportunity to intentionally and critically synthesize this growth, providing me with a skillset that I will bring to what I hope will be a lifelong journey of global engagement.
