As the daughter of two service technicians, those are the people that come to your house when you have a problem with your phone or Internet, for Bell South, now AT&T, language, communication, and any problems that arise with those have always been a huge part of my life. My parents lived and worked in Miami for over 15 years, and they were exposed to just about every different accent, dialect, and language while there. They always brought home stories about who they met, and then they attempted to mimic that person's way of talking. My mother now claims to be an expert on knowing where a person is from after just hearing them speak. My parents' interest, and amusement, in different languages has given me the foundations to really admire all sorts of accents and have respect for people who don't speak the same as me.

Due to the fact that Miami has a large Cuban population my dad picked up some basic words and taught them to me and my sister as we were growing up. This piqued my interest for the Spanish language, and once I started high school, I knew I wanted to take Spanish classes. I started my freshman year with Spanish 1, then continued to Spanish 2, 3, and then senior year I took AP Spanish. What a delight that was! Taking those Spanish courses gave me an appreciation for people who speak multiple languages and it also let me know that English is one of the hardest languages to learn, which makes me feel lucky that it is my first language. In addition to taking the AP Spanish language course my senior year, I took Advanced Composition. I had no idea that I would stand so much writing. I'm glad that I took it last year because it really helped me get past any big problems I had with writing about many different subjects and in many different formats. Advanced Composition showed me how to enjoy writing, even if I don't enjoy what I'm writing about. School has definitely shaped the way I feel about languages in all forms.

When preparing to start this chapter of my life at YHC, I realized that I would probably come in contact with quite a few people with heavy southern accents. What I didn't realize was how quickly I would pick those accents up. I already find myself putting a twang on my vowels. The best part of the language in this part of the world is talking with someone who has lived here their whole life. On Monday, two service men came into my dorm room to fix the bathroom door. When they were done, one of the men asked to borrow my broom, but it sounded like he asked if he could borrow my brain! That was probably the funniest experience I have ever had with misunderstanding someone's accent, but I look forward to having many more of those experiences throughout my life.