Before coming to Middlebury, I knew I wanted to major in French and Spanish. There was just one catch: I didn't speak a word of Spanish. Well, that's not exactly true. I could say hola and gato, but beyond that, I was lost. I had been told that Middlebury could be something of a "language boot camp," and I knew that I would cover as much grammar and vocabulary in a year of Spanish at Midd as I had in four years of high school French. What I didn't know was how much fun the professors would make it - from a tortilla party to an impromptu pre-class snowball fight with the chair of the department, to having input on hiring new professors. Yet the pace never let up, and by May I had gone from saying two words to reading the short novel La aventura de Miguel Littín clandestino en Chile by Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez and placing into the highest undergraduate level at the Middlebury Spanish School the summer immediately following.

Middlebury's philosophy of teaching language opened my eyes beyond mere linguistics - though that remained my main passion - to cultural studies and social justice, encouraging me to be an active member of my community. During my semester in Paris, I educated myself on minority language policy for my senior French thesis, which I will present at an international conference in Liverpool in the fall. I had also studied the previous semester in Middlebury's site in Santiago, where I was able to combine an interest in linguistics with service learning by interviewing homeless men and analyzing how they spoke. That course resulted in an 80-page senior thesis written in Spanish - you know, that language I didn't speak four years ago.

As the head tour guide for the Admissions Office, people ask me all the time to name the best part about Middlebury. I am always hard-pressed to think of just one thing, but I think the freedom that I have experienced here has definitely been near the top of the list. I have sung with the Chamber Singers without needing to be a music major. I have pursued linguistics without sacrificing the literary backbone of my language majors. I have balanced my role as head tour guide with my role as newspaper editor and leader in diversity issues on campus while directing a fair yet critical eye at the administration.

Studying at Middlebury has given me the tools I need to address complex issues in new ways, and to use my knowledge to help me live on principle. And to do it in French and Spanish.