should have listened

if you know me well you know i can be a bit stubborn.

sometimes i do things just because they are different from the norm (poodle can probably relate to that). this was especially true when i was younger. when i was in 4th grade i wore mismatched socks for over a year so that i could be different from my peers. mind you, this wasn't just mismatching my socks under my jeans either--oh no-- this was the early 90s. these were the days of sturup pants and scrunch socks over the sturup pants so that the world could see my protest of social norms.

this continued through out my childhood and still does into my young adulthood. but now i am finding that some of the choices that i made in clear defiance of my parents, peers, and the world in the pare are now coming back to bit me in the ass.

case in point-- French vs. Spanish.

it is well known that in the United States Spanish is one of the most rapidly growing languages spoken in communities. as in many fields, it is becoming increasingly more valuable in the social service job market to be able to speak fluent Spanish. especially in large cities (i.e. NYC) where there are whole neighborhoods where no one speaks English (i.e. the neighborhood i live in here in Brooklyn). at my VISTA site in the Bronx i have assisted with 2 different health fairs in the last couple weeks. at those health fairs i would estimate that 70% of the communities members i have had come to my resource table spoke almost exclusively Spanish.

bummer i don't speak Spanish.
why don't i speak Spanish? my school system started offering classes in the language beginning in 6th grade through my graduation, and i was required to take at least 3 years of a foreign language. again i ask, so why don't i speak Spanish?

i had to be different. i had to do something that all the other kids weren't doing and of course i had to do the exact opposite of what my parents wanted me to do. i wanted to take French. i can still remember the argument i had with my parents when it came time to pick a foreign language. i clearly remember my mom telling me that French would not be beneficial when i was older and Spanish would help me in the long run. my dad urged me to reconsider and think about job opportunities.

no thank you to their advice. i wanted French.

so here i sit: unable to speak with half the people in my site community, barley able to mumble any French (laura can vouche for that), and thinking to myself i should have listened.

editor's note: our brave heroine is currently looking into cheap, entry level Spanish speaking classes in the city. wish her luck!