My name is Alyssa Satterwhite.  I was born and lived most of my life in Portland, Oregon (yes, one of three Portlanders in the class…) I am a twin, which too many people seem to think is extremely interesting… asking “What is it like to be a twin?”.  Word to the wise: don’t bother asking me that question – I will simply ask you, “What is it like not to be a twin?”  I grew up with 3 siblings and many pets, particularly cats and dogs.  I enjoyed Oregon’s most beautiful coast, mountains and lakes while camping, backpacking and sailing every summer.

I work at UBC’s Centre for Intercultural Communication and I am seeking a double major  in Linguistics and Spanish. I plan to be a language teacher.  I am somewhat of a “language nut” – I love learning about languages and forms of communication, having studied not only Spanish, but Hindi, Brazilian Portuguese and American Sign Language, and learned (unabbreviated) Braille.

I learned Spanish both in school (middle/high school), where I learned grammar, and as an exchange student in Costa Rica, where I gained vocabulary and fluency.  I am still very close with my host families in Costa Rica; I have been back twice and will spend this summer there as well.  I am grateful that they are all safe and well following the earthquake on Thursday.

This is the first class on film I have taken; I am looking forward to it.  Already the discussion on Thursday, I thought, was very interesting.  It is easy for many of us to jump to conclusions (e.g. about stereotypes) and it was refreshing to have that challenged and be be exposed to a different (less judgemental, perhaps?) point of view.