Personal and Professional Growth Essay

In my future career, I want to work in the security industry analyzing China’s influence in Latin America and the Caribbean. One valuable skill needed within this career field is Spanish-language proficiency. I believe that over the course of this trip that I have honed this skill on a more profound level but not in the way I was expecting heading into the experience.

 

Before arriving in the Dominican Republic, I made a concerted effort to practice Spanish more frequently, and I researched a lot of information on the history and culture of the country. I often went to the mesa de español to practice my Spanish with my friends, and I listened to many Spanish podcasts. Furthermore, I spent countless hours on YouTube learning about Dominican culture, including a few dance moves or two. I thought that speaking Spanish while in the Dominican Republic was going to be the largest step that I would make in improving my Spanish-language proficiency. However, upon arriving in the country, I realized that I was gaining a stronger grasp of the language by listening to others and observing my surroundings.

 

While in the Dominican Republic, I learned new colloquial phrases from my friends, service placement, and host family. For example, I learned the difference between un acento wawawa and un acento popi, and I learned new names for common fruits like chinola, guayaba, and lechosa. Yet, listening to others was not the only avenue in which I gained more Spanish proficiency. I also gained more knowledge and skills by observing my surroundings. For example, I learned new vocabulary words from reading signs in the gym, at restaurants, and in colmados. Furthermore, changing my phone language settings to Spanish was a big adjustment at first, but I believe that it has helped me learn more about the language than I knew before.

 

While I have made great improvements in my Spanish-language proficiency during my time in the Dominican Republic by speaking the language, I feel that my proficiency has also significantly improved from listening to native Spanish speakers and observing my surroundings; a phenomenon that I did not anticipate heading into this experience. On the whole, my experience in the Dominican Republic helped me develop an important career-skill that I will need for my future career in the security industry, for which I am very grateful.