Integrative Narrative
Throughout my journey to completing my Capstone, I have gained a numerous amount of knowledge in a variety of areas such as reading, writing, speaking, intrapersonal thinking, and interpersonal skills. I recognize that my Spanish reading has improved positively throughout the semesters here at CSUMB. During the completion of some of my MLOs, I experienced some courses that helped my reading comprehension. I was able to read fluently in Spanish with the practice of several reading assignments given in some of my courses that were delivered in Spanish. Not only was I able to improve in my Spanish language but I was also able to improve in my English language. By fluently knowing these two languages I am able to consider myself now a bilingual student.
In the completion of MLO 1, I was able to participate in two courses. These courses are SPAN 425 and SPAN 301. In Spanish 425: Literatura Mexicana, students were able to interact and share ideas with classmates and faculty members on various works of Mexican literature from its indigenous and Hispanic origins to its more contemporary expressions. During this course, I was able to communicate with people around me and share ideas from various novels while speaking in my native language. This course helped me enforce my social skill and I got the opportunity at the end of the semester to present a PowerPoint focused on the work of the author Reyna Grande. This presentation helped me fulfill this MLO by communicating and presenting professionally in Spanish with my classmates. The second course that added to my completion of MLO1 was SPAN 301: Composicion Oral. In this course, I was able to strengthen my academic writing by completing several assignments that were in need of correction for academic use. As part of this class, students were given examples of different situations and were able to put into practice their interpersonal skills by communicating with classmates. These activities helped me fulfill the MLO by putting in practice my interpersonal skills with classmates and people around me.
For MLO 2, I was only able to apply to one course, this course is SPAN 313 Into to Spanish Linguistics. This course helped me gain linguistic knowledge of different Hispanic accents. For my research paper, I was able to discover the different linguistic features of different Spanish speakers. I got the opportunity to complete a research paper on a specific Spanish accent. This research paper helped me with the completion of MLO 2, in this paper I was able to present the sound system, the structure of words, and the structure of sentences. MLO 2 has opened doors to my life, I was able to discover that there is a variety of dialects, accents, and types of different languages which are important because in real life we will be interacting with a diverse community or social groups which can also be referred to as sociolinguistic.
For MLO 3, I was able to complete a few courses. For example, SPAN 301S Service Learning in the Latino Community, and SPAN 370 The Chicano Community. On SPAN 301S I completed 30 hours of community service in my Latino community. The community partner site that I chose was LATINAN, a nonprofit organization that provides free legal immigration services for our low-income Latino community. At the end of the course, I complete my community service and present a PowerPoint of my community site with my classmates. On SPAN 370 I explored and reviewed different articles about our Latino Community and at the end of the course I was able to find an important issue that needed a change. Therefore, I discovered that our undocumented Latino community is treated with inequality here in the U.S., I created a Powerpoint with some data and issues to show the importance of a change with our classmates. These two courses helped me discover and connect more with my Hispanic community. By completing this MLO, I got the opportunity to understand the ways of thinking, the behavioral practices, and the cultural products - both tangible and intangible.
MLO 4 Secondary Culture Other than Hispanic Cultures (Not Available)
Alternative Assignment (Course Narrative)
WLC 300 is the introductory seminar for our major, here we acquire knowledge and understanding of our major’s learning outcomes. We also discover opportunities related to our professional and career paths. We worked in groups on different activities and got to interact with our classmates. As part of the course, we were also asked to create our ePortfolio. This was one of my favorite activities because it allowed us to be creative with our own page. Additionally, we regularly had guest presentations with information regarding our majors. We also got to hear many graduates talk about their experiences during their undergraduate period. Another interesting activity that we created was our Personal Statement. I enjoyed this activity because it made me reflect on my personal goals and my life. During class, we discussed with our classmates and professors the different career goals that each individual had. We were also given the opportunity to interact with other major classmates, this helped us reflect on the diversity opportunities available and related to our major post-graduation. In this course, we got to know the different job positions that we could work on in the future. For example, I am a Spanish major; some options I may want to consider in the future are those of a Spanish professor, interpreter, writer, flight attendant, UNESCO official, and more. Overall, WLC 300 did guide me in my academic career, I believe this course is a valuable way to begin the major.
For this MLO 5, I was able to take SPAN 301S- Service Learning in the Chicanx/Latinx Community and SPAN 495 Special Topics. By taking both of these courses I was able to expand my knowledge of my own Hispanic culture. I learned new historical events of my culture and was able to share this with the people around me like friends, family, and school staff. In SPAN 301S I got the opportunity to complete 30 hours of community service in my community. After the completion of my community service I learned the different obstacles and barriers that our community experience. By the end of the semester I shared a powerpoint which included some of the By doing this, I gained experience for my future career and I was able to help my Hispanic community. In SPAN 495, I conducted an interview with some community members which I perform several questions concerning on the impact of culture change of people who migrated into the U.S. The purpose of these two interviews is to compare and take acknowledge of how could migrating into a new country could impact your native culture. These two course fits perfectly into my MLO 5, I was able to gain the necessary knowledge of my Hispanic Culture and I got the opportunity to participate in various activities which made me understand and connect with my culture. In a future this knowledge could help me communicate and connect with more people around the world.
Three courses helped me fulfill MLO 6: WLC 300 - WLC Major ProSeminar, SPAN 300 - Pre-Capstone for Spanish Majors, and WLC 400 - WLC Major Capstone. Every course taught me different content which helped me throughout my academic career. For example, in both courses SPAN 300 & WLC 400 I learned how to appropriately cite MLA Literature content. In WLC 300 & WLC 400, I learned how to create an academic ePortfolio which I am still working on and building a welcoming webpage. In WLC 300 & WLC 400 courses also help me on the journey of creating my Capstone, which focuses on Hispanic Culture. In my capstone, titled Personal Growth and Activism in the Memoirs of Francisco Jimenez. I was able to research the life of a Mexican immigrant and the different factors that interfere with the evolution of their individual identity. In particular, the clash of cultures and injustices affect personal identity due to the precepts and norms that society expects of the individual. Such is the case in the Young Adult memoirs The Circuit (1997) and Breaking Through (2002) by Francisco Jiménez. in which in the first memory, Jiménez expresses about the new and different experiences upon arriving in the United States, while in the second memory, he expresses how well he adapts to the new customs. Our investigation analyzes the development and growth of Francisco Jiménez (Panchito) in a hostile country, where cultural stereotypes, as well as injustices, racism, and language, represent obstacles to the discovery of both his Mexican-American identity as well as his Chicano political ideology. These three courses have contributed to my academic success, and each of them has helped my MLO 6 to be complete. I gained knowledge on research methods, and I have put into practice all this in order to complete several assignments on my academic success. In a future I plan tu utlize my knowledge and all the different activities I completed in MLO 6 to use it in my career. I chose the Spanish major mostly because I want to become a Spanish professor and help those students who chose Spanish as a second language. As an English learner, I know the struggle of knowing a new language. I’ll like to become a professor that can connect with students and help them feel welcome in knowing this new language.
In the completion of MLO 1, I was able to participate in two courses. These courses are SPAN 425 and SPAN 301. In Spanish 425: Literatura Mexicana, students were able to interact and share ideas with classmates and faculty members on various works of Mexican literature from its indigenous and Hispanic origins to its more contemporary expressions. During this course, I was able to communicate with people around me and share ideas from various novels while speaking in my native language. This course helped me enforce my social skill and I got the opportunity at the end of the semester to present a PowerPoint focused on the work of the author Reyna Grande. This presentation helped me fulfill this MLO by communicating and presenting professionally in Spanish with my classmates. The second course that added to my completion of MLO1 was SPAN 301: Composicion Oral. In this course, I was able to strengthen my academic writing by completing several assignments that were in need of correction for academic use. As part of this class, students were given examples of different situations and were able to put into practice their interpersonal skills by communicating with classmates. These activities helped me fulfill the MLO by putting in practice my interpersonal skills with classmates and people around me.
For MLO 2, I was only able to apply to one course, this course is SPAN 313 Into to Spanish Linguistics. This course helped me gain linguistic knowledge of different Hispanic accents. For my research paper, I was able to discover the different linguistic features of different Spanish speakers. I got the opportunity to complete a research paper on a specific Spanish accent. This research paper helped me with the completion of MLO 2, in this paper I was able to present the sound system, the structure of words, and the structure of sentences. MLO 2 has opened doors to my life, I was able to discover that there is a variety of dialects, accents, and types of different languages which are important because in real life we will be interacting with a diverse community or social groups which can also be referred to as sociolinguistic.
For MLO 3, I was able to complete a few courses. For example, SPAN 301S Service Learning in the Latino Community, and SPAN 370 The Chicano Community. On SPAN 301S I completed 30 hours of community service in my Latino community. The community partner site that I chose was LATINAN, a nonprofit organization that provides free legal immigration services for our low-income Latino community. At the end of the course, I complete my community service and present a PowerPoint of my community site with my classmates. On SPAN 370 I explored and reviewed different articles about our Latino Community and at the end of the course I was able to find an important issue that needed a change. Therefore, I discovered that our undocumented Latino community is treated with inequality here in the U.S., I created a Powerpoint with some data and issues to show the importance of a change with our classmates. These two courses helped me discover and connect more with my Hispanic community. By completing this MLO, I got the opportunity to understand the ways of thinking, the behavioral practices, and the cultural products - both tangible and intangible.
MLO 4 Secondary Culture Other than Hispanic Cultures (Not Available)
Alternative Assignment (Course Narrative)
WLC 300 is the introductory seminar for our major, here we acquire knowledge and understanding of our major’s learning outcomes. We also discover opportunities related to our professional and career paths. We worked in groups on different activities and got to interact with our classmates. As part of the course, we were also asked to create our ePortfolio. This was one of my favorite activities because it allowed us to be creative with our own page. Additionally, we regularly had guest presentations with information regarding our majors. We also got to hear many graduates talk about their experiences during their undergraduate period. Another interesting activity that we created was our Personal Statement. I enjoyed this activity because it made me reflect on my personal goals and my life. During class, we discussed with our classmates and professors the different career goals that each individual had. We were also given the opportunity to interact with other major classmates, this helped us reflect on the diversity opportunities available and related to our major post-graduation. In this course, we got to know the different job positions that we could work on in the future. For example, I am a Spanish major; some options I may want to consider in the future are those of a Spanish professor, interpreter, writer, flight attendant, UNESCO official, and more. Overall, WLC 300 did guide me in my academic career, I believe this course is a valuable way to begin the major.
For this MLO 5, I was able to take SPAN 301S- Service Learning in the Chicanx/Latinx Community and SPAN 495 Special Topics. By taking both of these courses I was able to expand my knowledge of my own Hispanic culture. I learned new historical events of my culture and was able to share this with the people around me like friends, family, and school staff. In SPAN 301S I got the opportunity to complete 30 hours of community service in my community. After the completion of my community service I learned the different obstacles and barriers that our community experience. By the end of the semester I shared a powerpoint which included some of the By doing this, I gained experience for my future career and I was able to help my Hispanic community. In SPAN 495, I conducted an interview with some community members which I perform several questions concerning on the impact of culture change of people who migrated into the U.S. The purpose of these two interviews is to compare and take acknowledge of how could migrating into a new country could impact your native culture. These two course fits perfectly into my MLO 5, I was able to gain the necessary knowledge of my Hispanic Culture and I got the opportunity to participate in various activities which made me understand and connect with my culture. In a future this knowledge could help me communicate and connect with more people around the world.
Three courses helped me fulfill MLO 6: WLC 300 - WLC Major ProSeminar, SPAN 300 - Pre-Capstone for Spanish Majors, and WLC 400 - WLC Major Capstone. Every course taught me different content which helped me throughout my academic career. For example, in both courses SPAN 300 & WLC 400 I learned how to appropriately cite MLA Literature content. In WLC 300 & WLC 400, I learned how to create an academic ePortfolio which I am still working on and building a welcoming webpage. In WLC 300 & WLC 400 courses also help me on the journey of creating my Capstone, which focuses on Hispanic Culture. In my capstone, titled Personal Growth and Activism in the Memoirs of Francisco Jimenez. I was able to research the life of a Mexican immigrant and the different factors that interfere with the evolution of their individual identity. In particular, the clash of cultures and injustices affect personal identity due to the precepts and norms that society expects of the individual. Such is the case in the Young Adult memoirs The Circuit (1997) and Breaking Through (2002) by Francisco Jiménez. in which in the first memory, Jiménez expresses about the new and different experiences upon arriving in the United States, while in the second memory, he expresses how well he adapts to the new customs. Our investigation analyzes the development and growth of Francisco Jiménez (Panchito) in a hostile country, where cultural stereotypes, as well as injustices, racism, and language, represent obstacles to the discovery of both his Mexican-American identity as well as his Chicano political ideology. These three courses have contributed to my academic success, and each of them has helped my MLO 6 to be complete. I gained knowledge on research methods, and I have put into practice all this in order to complete several assignments on my academic success. In a future I plan tu utlize my knowledge and all the different activities I completed in MLO 6 to use it in my career. I chose the Spanish major mostly because I want to become a Spanish professor and help those students who chose Spanish as a second language. As an English learner, I know the struggle of knowing a new language. I’ll like to become a professor that can connect with students and help them feel welcome in knowing this new language.