It is your idea, your interests, what you want to know more about. This was the first time in my college career that professors were like, ‘It’s up to you.’ Though overwhelming at first, it was really empowering.
It didn’t take long for 杰克穆雷, ’23, to recognize the professional relevance of his undergraduate research. In fact, he had yet to even cross the commencement stage.
BSU的 西班牙语 和 secondary education major studied two distinct ways of describing past actions in 西班牙语 that are challenging for students to grasp.
“I literally taught the difference in a 西班牙语 class,他说, recounting an experience student-teaching at Taunton High School. “What the research told me, I could see in front of me.”
That research on the preterit 和 imperfect verb tenses, which was part of his honors thesis, represents a passion for the 西班牙语 language that he developed as a student. Jake started learning 西班牙语 in eighth grade 和 initially disliked it. As his language skills advanced, he became enthralled by 西班牙语 literature, music, 和 art.
For his thesis, Jake relied on sources in English 和 西班牙语. He studied the historical Latin roots of the two verb tenses, linguistic differences, cultural impacts in the 西班牙语 speaking world 和 strategies for teaching students.
The project’s interdisciplinary nature impressed Dr. 何塞·劳拉, an assistant professor of 西班牙语 who co-mentored Jake.
“This was a thesis that was research based 和 also applicable to the classroom,” Lara said. “He argued for a more wholistic underst和ing of these tenses 和 the importance of underst和ing them for students 和 educators alike.”
劳拉和博士. Melissa Tobey LaBelle, an assistant professor of secondary education 和 educational leadership, recommended sources 和 even commented as Jake drafted his thesis.
“They were crucial to my success,他说. “We were discovering this knowledge together.”
Research was rewarding in itself because of the freedom it offered, Jake said.
“It is your idea, your interests, what you want to know more about,他说. “This was the first time in my college career that professors were like, ‘It’s up to you.’ Though overwhelming at first, it was really empowering.”
Now Jake is preparing to continue studying 西班牙语 in graduate school at Universidad de Alcalá in Spain. He will also teach English while abroad.
He then plans to return to the U.S. to teach 西班牙语 – a career that he knows he is prepared for thanks to his BSU research 和 education.
“I have this great privilege,他说 of becoming a 西班牙语 educator who is not a native speaker. “I can not only share my passion with students but put myself in their shoes.”
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