FAQs
- What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
For horseback riding, I like to schedule a meeting at my facility where the potential client can come ask me questions, share a bit about his or her background, goals, and expectations, and go over the release form, payment agreement and safety requirements before scheduling a first lesson. It’s also fun for people to get to meet the four-legged staff and, when possible, stick around to observe part of someone else’s lesson. For Spanish, we generally jump right in, however the first lesson is largely spent discussing ways to incorporate some Spanish into the student’s daily routine and getting a feel for their level. After I determine what the student’s long and short-term goals are and their current level, I will create a custom lesson plan to fit their individual needs.
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
As a Spanish instructor, I have extensive credentials. I received my Master's degree in 2011 in Spanish Literature with a Master's minor in Gender and Women's studies. In the Gender and Women's Studies department I had the highest graduate grade-point average two years in a row, and in the Spanish Department I was inducted into Sigma Delta Pi National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society and I graduated with a grade-point average of 4.0 (out of 4.0). As the recipient of a Graduate Teaching Assistantship I got to teach two years of introductory and intermediate Spanish at the University of Wyoming, during which time I successfully completed a yearlong teaching practicum to study language acquisition theory and talk about its application in the classroom. My undergraduate degree is a dual degree in Communications/Journalism and Spanish, and I received credit for two studies abroad--one in Mexico for a summerlong intensive language course at La Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara and one year in Spain attending La Universidad de Almería. In addition to my academic formation, I have had the great fortune of being able to forge intimate, lasting relationships as well as professional ties with Spanish-speaking people all over the globe, deepening my understanding of the language beyond the classroom.
- What types of customers have you worked with?
One of my favorite things about my job is getting to work with such a huge variety of people. For language lessons, I have had two photographers (one from National Geographic), countless individuals in the medical field, two speech pathologists, a physical therapist, a banker, computer programmers, various types of engineers, secretaries and office managers, people involved in real estate, a pastor, an urban designer and architect, a yoga instructor, a painter, executives, retirees, high schoolers, a medical interpreter, as well as countless college students. I love getting to know all of my students as individuals and learning how to motivate and engage them, since each one is quite different from the last. It's fun getting to develop a teaching style that complements the way each person learns, and it's rewarding to watch people thrive intellectually. Some people are visual learners, some kinesthetic, and other are auditory, but usually we will display some combination of two or more types of learning. No two people's styles are identical, though, and what makes a good teacher is one who keeps learning with each new student. For horseback riding lessons I have also worked with a wide variety of individuals, from the age of 3 all the way up to 73! Unfortunately, I don't have as many male students as I would like to see get involved in the sport. Surprisingly, the predominance of women seems to be strictly cultural, since in many other countries the ratio of men to women involved in horses is almost completely reversed. But in the United States, at least in the amateur levels of equestrianism, there's a pitifully small number of men, which means that the men who ARE involved with horses say they wish they'd known about this gold mine of women when they were in high school! So, high school boys, take note, and if you're having trouble finding a date to the prom, pull on some breeches and a helmet and get ready to be inundated with available women. Just kidding (sort of).