Application Essay
“One’s destination is never a place but a new way of seeing things.” This quote may seem cliché, however, it directly distinguishes the purpose of studying abroad for me. I will study abroad in Seville, Spain for the fall 2016 semester and possibly a portion of the summer. While in Spain, I will have opportunities to see new and interesting places and improve my Spanish language skills, more importantly, I will immerse myself in a foreign culture that holds new perspectives and ideas. These new perspectives and ideas will affect my life and also the lives of my future students and colleagues, as I plan to apply them into my teaching one day. In the …show more content…
The experience and learnings I will gain from this not only are incredibly valuable to me and my future career, but also something I can pass onto other Juniata students studying education. With a significantly growing population of students entering schools in the United States as English language learners, an importance lies in teachers understanding how to effectively teach these students. During my freshman year at Juniata, I created a poster for the Liberal Arts Symposium that focused on the main principles of bilingual education. A number of students from all areas of academic study approached me with an interest in the staggering statistics I presented expressing how the population of students learning English has grown rapidly in the United States yet educational programs do not always keep up with the demand. They also became surprised with my statistics regarding the over referral of students to special education services that are English language learners. I feel that the new information I learn in Spain about teaching English as a second language and actual work with English language learners in addition to my experiences from the Orizaba, Mexico internship program I took part in teaching English during the summer of 2015, could contribute to a more in depth LAS poster or presentation. I could present this to students of all academic disciplines to understand further the need for programs for English Language Learners in public schools and society as a