I grew up on the Brownsville-Matamoros border. I only spoke Spanish until I entered first-grade. Although I quickly learned the language, I was fortunate in having my parents insist on our only speaking Spanish at home and in their providing us with books to read in Spanish. In college I was a natural science major; however, I wanted to study abroad and had two choices at that time: Germany or Spain. Needless to say, I chose the latter. I met my husband there, eventually married and lived in Spain for about 17 years. In 1981 my family returned to the States and I got a job teaching Spanish. Later I began to teach AP Spanish Language and AP Spanish Literature. As a result of teaching the latter, I decided to get a PhD, which I did once my youngest daughter finished her undergraduate studies. In the Spanish Department at UT I supervised the first-semester course and was General Language Program Coordinator. Two years when I stepped down as coordinator, I was asked to redesign our Spanish heritage-language track. It’s been a lot of work, but so very rewarding!