From Madrid to Ferrum: Fulbright Adventures in the U.S.

Fulbright Spanish Language Assistant Esther Pescador de Galdo found a new home at Ferrum College for the 2015-16 academic year.

¡Hola! My name is Esther. I arrived at Ferrum College two months ago to teach Spanish. I am from Madrid, Spain. This is my first time in the United States, and so far, the experience is going great!

I did my undergrad in Translation and Interpreting in Madrid and I also did a master’s degree in Applied Linguistics in Dublin (Ireland). I love languages, traveling, getting to know new cultures, peoples, traditions… and this is one of the reasons I decided to apply for a Fulbright Scholarship to come to the United States. I never thought I would be accept it but here I am!!! I believe traveling is the best way to learn and that’s what I like doing.

My journey in the States started on August 16, 2015, at Stanford University in California, where I had an orientation for four days. There I got to meet other Fulbrighters from different countries including Uruguay, Kenya, Uzbekistan, India and others. It was an amazing experience. We had different sessions in order to get introduced to the American culture, we also learned about teaching our languages, we visited San Francisco, participated in different events.

After that, I arrived at Ferrum College. My first impression was: what am I going to do here for fun? Ferrum is very different from the big cities of Madrid and Dublin. However, it has in common with my previous experiences that people are really friendly and welcoming. Since the very first day people have been really kind to me and always make me feel they are happy I am here.

Now I am teaching Spanish 101 and I participate in the Spanish Club on campus. I will be here until the end of May, so hopefully my experience will continue to be this excellent!

See photographs from my time in the United States here.