FLAN blog, David Joo, Spanish B.A. c/o 2007

I graduated from Campbell University in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.  I majored in Spanish and minored in English.  I’ve always been inclined toward the arts and humanities, and while there are proven cognitive benefits to learning a new language, I just truly enjoyed studying language and culture.  After graduating from Campbell, I continued my education and attended graduate school toreceive my Master of Arts in Spanish.  After receiving my MA, I returned to my alma mater and taught at Campbell for seven years.  During this time, I realized that I’m an educator at heart.  Teaching never felt like work to me.  Much like a musician will sometimes describe how it feels like the music just flows through him/her, I always felt like teaching flowed naturally through me.  I love absorbing information and synthesizing it in a way that is easy to digest for the learner.  After seven years at Campbell, I moved to Atlanta, Georgia.  My experience in higher education provided me opportunities to work at other universities.  I recently accepted an offer to become an Academic Counselor at Georgia State University for their First Year and Transition Program.  I consider myself to be an altruistic person and find the most gratification in my job when I can help others to succeed.  More than pursuing monetary gain, I’ve always strived to be of value in the work that I do.  I believe in the power of education not only to transform the minds and lives of the individual learner, but to ultimately contribute to a better society.  My goal is to be a part of that process.  Majoring in Spanish at Campbell University was the avenue through which I began to fulfill that purpose.