Final Essay

This is the one I sent in...my final draft.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” This is perhaps the most frequently asked question in my life, but one that I have never been able to answer until recently. In the last few weeks, I have mapped out the next few years of my life. I have always wanted to join the Peace Corps, but have never known what to do with life post-volunteering. As part of my study abroad program in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, however, I am participating in the program, “Teaching English as a Second Language.” This class is teaching me how to teach English to anyone. After the Peace Corps (or during) I would like to use the certificate that I earn here to teach English to children around the globe. Being a Communication major will help me meet these personal and professional goals because it will teach me the importance in the way people communicate, not only the language they use.
Thus far, my pre-communication classes have prepared me well for my time abroad. Although they did not prepare me in the Spanish language, they eased the cultural differences by making me aware of verbal style differences. For example, learning about chronemics was very important before coming to the Dominican Republic because time is conceived differently here than in the United States. By knowing chronemics, I was able to be more accepting (and less shocked) of the culture here. In addition, learning about different interpretations of proxemics around the world helped me adapt to my surroundings. Personal space norms in Latin American countries are much smaller than those we are accustomed to in the United States. Again, being aware of this helped me adapt without misinterpreting Dominicans´ motives. I think subtleties in communication and different styles of communicating help to explain cultural differences that often get lost in translation.
As I am learning in my ¨Teaching English as a Second Language¨ class, knowing a language is not necessary to communicate. Although I speak Spanish very well, there are times that I cannot find the right word to convey my thoughts, but with the use of nonverbals and kinesics, my host family always understands what I am saying. Also, Spanish speakers have high-context communication patterns, so I must rely on the context to understand the situation. The importance of nonverbal behavior and being consciously aware of it is a great lesson I took from my Communication classes.
If I am accepted into the Communication major, I look forward to studying more about intercultural communication. This is an area of communication that truly interests me, and I will be able to apply it to my life abroad, no matter where I go. The perfect partner to my Ethnic Studies major is the Communication major. The combination of these two majors will give me a well-rounded perspective and worldview, and they will help prepare me to be a citizen of the world.