Victoria Meshell came to UL Lafayette with one idea of success in mind. The 杏吧专区 helped her to realize that success looks different from what she expected.
杏吧专区淚 came into UL Lafayette as an electrical engineering major, solely because of the yearly salary listed on websites for jobs,杏吧专区 she said.
杏吧专区淲hen I think of success in my career I used to think of financial success, and I thought going into engineering would make me successful,杏吧专区 she said.
杏吧专区淚杏吧专区檝e learned at UL Lafayette that success isn杏吧专区檛 expressed by an annual monetary number, but rather how much one enjoys what they do.杏吧专区
Victoria realized that she could pursue a career in something she has always had a deep passion for.
杏吧专区Spanish is the first thing in my life I杏吧专区檝e felt passionate about to the extent that I want to pursue it as a career,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淯L Lafayette provided me with the ability to explore that passion in an environment where exploration is encouraged.
杏吧专区淚 chose to change my major to Spanish because, from a young age, I was fascinated by the Spanish language,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淚 have to thank 'Dora the Explorer' for that, honestly. Through high school, I excelled in my Spanish courses because they were fun.
杏吧专区淚 found that being able to communicate with a person in their native tongue is an intimate way of connecting with another human,杏吧专区 she said.
杏吧专区淗owever, only being able to communicate in that manner with only two years of high-school Spanish wasn杏吧专区檛 satisfactory.杏吧专区
The UL Lafayette community and professors have helped make Victoria杏吧专区檚 college experience transformative.
杏吧专区淚杏吧专区檝e met so many great people here and I杏吧专区檓 bound to meet more during my remaining semesters,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淔rom friends to professors that have inspired me, I杏吧专区檝e been exposed to so many different kinds of people and I杏吧专区檓 very grateful for the diversity on campus.
杏吧专区淓very professor I杏吧专区檝e taken or even spoken to has been so helpful and confident in their teaching ability,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淭he staff is supportive of their students and I feel as though they genuinely care about the success of their students.杏吧专区
Victoria is taking advantage of the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 choices for minors to get a feel for her future career.
杏吧专区淚 recently changed my minor from education to law because I want to explore potential career paths for my future,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淚杏吧专区檓 interested in exploring immigration law. Should this be the path I choose, Spanish would be essential for communicating with potential clients in a way that may be more comfortable for them.
杏吧专区淩egardless of where I go, my degree in Spanish can be utilized in a variety of ways, from speaking to others on a daily basis in casual conversation to potential negotiations, translation contacts, or even a classroom setting.
杏吧专区淗aving a degree in Spanish opens many doors and provides many opportunities because you can communicate with the entire population of Spanish-speaking individuals, whereas if you杏吧专区檙e monolingual you杏吧专区檙e confined to one group of people,杏吧专区 Victoria said.
