I’m a Journalism major. I want to be a broadcast journalist. That’s my primary reason for wanting to become fluent in Spanish. If for some reason, my other possible areas of interests such as other types of communication jobs, politics, human resources, could utilize Spanish. I’ve taken 4 years of high school Spanish and two semesters of college Spanish. Through scholarship funding and thanks to my school’s affordable study abroad options, I’m going to be studying in Spain for the full academic year. All my classes will be instructed in Spanish, I will be living with a Spanish host family, and signing a Spanish-only pledge except in the case of emergencies. I"m also considering staying there that summer and living as an au pair. I came into school with some AP credits. I’m ahead enough that I only have to take two courses my last semester, which will save me about $3,000 that I won’t have to take out in loans. But I’d only be two courses short of the Spanish major. If I take a normal semester, I could complete a Spanish double major. It seems silly not to get the major if I’m only two courses away and it’s as some would say only $3,000. But I’ve always been committed to keeping my debt as low as possible. And for me, it’s important to me to have the skills to use Spanish professionally. I don’t think my abilities would change with two more classes and I could still have language proficiency on my resume, without a major. And I’d have the credentials for a Spanish minor, at least. I also don’t see any jobs that I would not be able to do with a Journalism degree that I would be able to do with a Spanish degree.
Do you have other loans?
TV journalism is a highly competitive field, and someone with a degree in Spanish in addition to journalism could be very attractive to news directors in many parts of the country.
@katliamom I don’t have other loans. I receive yearly grant funding, an annual scholarship, and federal loans. My first year, for tuition, books, and $11,000 room& board, I only needed to borrow $5500. Next year, I will be dependent on my loan for study abroad. My junior and senior year, I will be living in an apartment off campus with other students and the rate is much lower, about half the cost of on-campus. My loan will then no longer be necessary.
By taking less classes in my final semester, I won’t need my scholarship check that semester (which is written in my name for educational expenses) to cover tuition. I can use that to pay off some of my loan.
So in theory, to get a second Bachelor’s Degree would cost about $3,000, which you would have to borrow? Sounds like a decent investment to me, but then I’m not a FA expert and am counting on you to know how much you’d have in loans to pay off… I don’t usually encourage debt, but I have this vision of your resume with two different degrees listed on it… and your “demo tape” on which you’re interviewing someone in Spanish, something which would set you apart from the competition. Spanish is so key in so much of the country, it seems like a very useful skill/degree to have.
I notice ABC anchor David Muir never misses an opportunity to show off his Spanish on air!