Estrella Cibreiro, Spanish

     There are few moments in an educator's life that bring more joy and satisfaction than to see one's students embrace, not only intellectually but also experientially, what you strive to teach them every day in the classroom.

     This is exactly what I was fortunate enough to see last November during a one- week trip to Spain. While I was there visiting my family, I also met with two former students (Kathryn Simison '11 and Daniel Clavin '12) who, along with Emily Polaceck '11, are now living and working in Galicia, a region in the Northwest of Spain where I was born and raised. I had developed a particularly close relationship with Kat and Dan at Holy Cross, given the fact that they had both taken several courses with me, had been my advisees, and had also worked as my research assistants on several Spanish literature projects. The irony of the fact that I, a native Spaniard but long-time resident of the U.S., was visiting my American students, now Spanish residents themselves, did not escape me. The fact that they ended up living and working less than an hour from my home town made this experience that much more poignant and personal for me.

     As I listened to them speak with such pure native accents (music to my ears!) and as I saw how fully integrated into the Spanish culture they had become, I could not help but feel a sense of pride in their accomplishments. They were experiencing and putting into practice every day so much of what we taught them in the classroom every semester here at Holy Cross… and they were thriving! It was indeed a joyous moment in my life. It is good to know that the work we do as educators really does shape our students' future and that the intellectual and human bonds that are formed in Stein or Beaven oftentimes do extend well beyond our campus gates. Here are my students' stories, ¡en español, claro!