Hello,

My name is Craig, I’m in my final term of my undergrad; my major is Spanish. Starting a degree late in life has been an interesting endeavour, never mind trying to learn a second language as a nearly-middle-aged adult. It has been filled with triumphs and tribulations to be certain, and I wouldn’t have done things differently. I am currently in the process of applying to grad school in Alberta where I hope to pursue a Masters degree in Spanish Linguistics.

If I’m being honest, I don’t really do much outside of school. I have a husband and two furbabies—Clarabell and Matilda—who make my world complete. I love to cook and watch TV (Coronation Street, Doc Martin, Call the Midwife, Schitt’s Creek, Midsomer Murders are some of my faves) when I am not working on or stressing about classes. Music is a huge part of my life. I used to play bassoon and tuba back in the day. These days I play piano when I get the chance but it isn’t that often. I mostly play the radio in my car while commuting from Guildford. My musical tastes vary greatly across the spectrum, from musicals and opera to rock-a-billy and blues to retro and indie punk and rock.

Oddly enough, reading is a new thing to me. For years, I was unable to retain what I read due to what I had been told was ADHD, but as it turns out this was merely a symptom of something else. Now that’s in tow, I do try to read regularly. My all-time favourites are the Tales of the City series by Armistead Maupin, A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry and The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Tolstoy. During the term, however, I read what is required and save the good stuff for after final exams.

I think what I am most looking forward to in this course is that Latino/ Chicano literature seems to be overlooked in the realm of academia. Certainly the notion of ‘Spanglish’ is poopooed by Spanish profs, but also the idea that Latin American literature must come from a defined space—that does not include the USA. The US has the second highest Spanish speaking population after Mexico, so I seems to me that Spanish literature from the US is an important portion of Spanish/ Latin American literature. Something else I find most intriguing is that literature written in the US seems to present a division between two languages, two cultures and two societies. Liminality became an interest to me in SPAN 495 last term, so I am interested in seeing how it plays out within the prescribed texts this term.