Written Reflection on Connecting Learning to Life

This was one of the more difficult sections for me to find applicable material to add into my
portfolio. I was asked to find an artifact which represents personal use of the language in my
life. In my personal life, every now and then I find myself having conversations with people in
Spanish, or Facebook messaging my old friends from the mission field. For this assignment I
wanted to include something more authentic about myself. One of my biggest passions is
health and fitness. This could be because I’ve been an athlete my whole life, but I find that my
passion in that field goes beyond the simple desire to stay in good physical shape. I
remembered that I took a Spanish medical terminology class last year, and I absolutely loved it.
I don’t plan on becoming a doctor, but I do enjoy having a good understanding of the body and
all of its functions. In the class I did several presentations on different medical topics, but the
presentation I included in this topic was about anaerobic exercise. The reason I included this
presentation for my personal use of the language, is because I used this information in Spanish
to talk with my brother and one of his friends from Guatemala while we were working out at
the gym. I enjoyed being able to talk about a subject in Spanish which was out of the ordinary
for me, and happened to be a subject I quite enjoy.
For the professional use of the language, I decided to create a resume in Spanish. It really
wasn’t a difficult task since I already had a resume in English, I just had to use some of my
translation skills to change it to Spanish. I thought this would be a good idea for me since I am
about to graduate, and I still don’t know exactly what job I will end up with out of college.
Having a Spanish resume may open more opportunities for me to interview with Spanish
speaking companies in the future.
No matter what job I end up with in the future, it is a goal of mine to maintain my Spanish
language skills so that I can use them in my career. My older brother was a Spanish major at
BYU, and I was able to work for his company last year which deals in orthopedic bracing
primarily. He receives several Spanish speaking clients in his office each month, and luckily he
can help them get what they need because he has maintained his Spanish speaking ability. I
look to him as a good example for me to stay motivated in cultivating my Spanish more and
more. I know that as I do so, I can be a more useful instrument in God’s hands to help his
children throughout my life.