Congratulations Patricia Osorio!

Felicidades a Patricia Osorio,

Patricia es nuestra primera estudiante seleccionada como ‘Heritage Student Spotlight. Ella fue nominada por la Dra. Dale Koike del Departamento de Español y Portugués en la Universidad de Texas en Austin. La Dra. Koike nos comparte que después de que Patricia tomó el curso de introducción a la lingüística, ella decidió cambiar de carrera y enfocarse en convertirse en maestra de español. Actualmente está cursando su último año y esta completando el programa UTEACH. Koike añade “ella es muy inteligente, tiene mucha motivación, y una personalidad maravillosa dignas de una futura maestra modelo.” Here is a little bit about her:

“My name is Patricia Osorio and I am a first-generation college student from Dallas Tx. I am currently in the fourth year of my college journey majoring in Spanish with a minor in Chinese language and culture. In addition to this, I am pursuing a teaching certificate through the UTEACH program. Spanish has been a huge part of my life thanks to my family and friends. I was able to learn Spanish while growing up and I moved to Mexico when I was about four years old. I returned to the U.S. a couple of years later, fluent in the language. My family is a very traditional family, we are accustomed to speaking Spanish at home and it feels the most natural to do so. My advice to other heritage speakers is to practice as much as possible. It is easy to stop using the language since we are in an environment where we have to speak English all day. Being able to speak Spanish is a huge part of my life and a part of my identity that I am incredibly proud of. One of the things that I absolutely love about being a heritage speaker is the ability to connect with other Spanish speakers from different countries. It gives us a special connection right away and it helps me to share my culture. Through studying Spanish at a college level I have been able to expand my knowledge to a level that I can use in various career paths. Thanks to this, I plan on teaching Spanish abroad for a couple of years after graduation. I have had the opportunity to teach it for a short period in China and I can say that it was a life-changing experience. After teaching abroad for some time I hope to return to the U.S. and teach for some time as well as continue my education in the psychology field.”

¡Felicidades Patricia!