So What Is This Trip, Anyway?

I’ve had a lot of people ask me about what this trip is all about and what I will be doing. So I’ll take a moment to answer some of the most common questions I keep getting!

Q1: So, is this like a college class?
Yes and no. It’s a program, directed by Newman University, and it’s an undergrad level program focused on Spanish immersion. Since I already have my Bachelor’s complete, I don’t need the college credits or a grade. I won’t be technically enrolled in the prep course, so I don’t have to pay extra tuition for that. However, I’m still required to complete all the prep course work in order to go on the trip. The trip itself is an undergrad credit in itself that includes the trip, tuition, and adventures while I’m there. That’s what I have to pay the $5500 for.

Q2: Is it like a vacation?
NO! It is school. There will be fun evening group events planned every night and weekend, but I will be sitting one-on-one with a Spanish teacher, talking in conversational Spanish, for 5 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 6 solid weeks. I don’t see it as a vacation. A trip to the Bahamas would be a vacation. I’m going there to learn Spanish. That’s the main mission of the trip.

Q3: How’d you find the class?
I’m currently taking a grad-level class for the district through Newman University. The district will pay for 5 grad school level courses in ESOL (English Speakers of Other Languages). Ironically, it’s NOT a second language program, but more of a program for educators that teaches them techniques for effectively teaching students who don’t speak English as their first language. Since the district is paying for all of it, and it’s something I’m passionate about, I have 2.5 years’ worth of classes that I’m attending to get that endorsement added to my license.
However, being enrolled at Newman in the grad level courses, put me on the school-wide student email list. In October, I got an email from Sonja Bontrager, the director for the program, with an all-call invite to the entire student body asking for participants in the Guatemala Study and Serve program. That’s how I found it, and got started in it. It was a lengthy application process but I got into the program!

Q4: Are you a foreign exchange student?
Yes. I will be staying with one host family for the first week or so while I’m there, helping with the rescue mission Maria de Mattias. After that, we will go to Quetzaltenango, where the school is: Proyecto Linguistico Quetzalteco. I will have a different host family while there. So I will be spending very little time with other English speakers.

Q5: Are you becoming bilingual so you’ll get a raise or a promotion?
Not at all. Obviously being bilingual will make me more marketable. But in the teaching community, raises and promotions are very rare without formal educations and degrees. Obviously, a raise or promotion would be nice, but I honestly don’t care if I get a raise or a promotion. I’m going for me, and for my students and their families. I want to challenge myself and become a more empowered educator. I want to be able to explain my classroom material to my students in a language they understand. I want to be more aware of other cultures. I want to be able to say I learned another language in my 20’s. I want to learn about other countries, cultures, foods, and customs. A bonus or a promotion would be secondary to the incredible life experience I will gain.