Julia Sergison ’16

"My first year at St. Joseph's I was involved in the Friends of Fire Island National Seashore club but sadly I don't think it exists as a club any longer. However, I volunteered time to the Office of Global Studies as a member of their Student Action Panel, a representative for freshman orientation, as well as sharing my experiences at the annual fair. I also helped Linda Lubranski coordinate keynote speaker, Chris Polley, who shared with the St. Joseph's community his travels and experience abroad wokring as a guidance counselor in American schools. In addition to that, I have acted as a representative for both the Modern Languages and Secondary Education departments at other fairs, meetings, or orientations. Furthermore, I am a member of the Gamma Tau Delta, Sigma Iota Chi, and Sigma Delta Pi honor societies."

"I'd have to say that my love for the Spanish language and cultures was sparked in me when I was 12 years old and I travelled to Spain with my then Spanish teacher to study and live in a homestay in Salamanca. I was in 8th grade and the trip was only offered to 9th and 10th grade but my teacher extended a special invitation to me because she really thought I would flourish.

"I fell in love with it from the very first day and even skipped the nights out with the older kids so that I could stay back and practice my Spanish while getting to know my host family. The following summer, I got my parents to agree to host a student from Spain, giving back in a way. To this day, nearly 8 years later, he is still one of my closest friends!

"Also, my oldest brother was very inspiring as well. He was bitten by the travel bug and seeing his adventures made me crave my own. As for teaching, I come from a huge family filled with many teachers. My dad was a history teacher and later an administrator and my mom always worked in a school though not a teacher. About ten of my cousins work in schools, either as teachers, guidance counselors, or speech pathologists. Growing up as I did, it was always a respected profession."

"As a very young child I always wanted to be a party planner! I always had fun parties for my birthday or holidays or just because it was a nice day and we had a pool! I loved the themes and food and music and mostly I loved that everyone raved about how much fun they were. Even to this day I love planning and organizing and watching everybody enjoy the efforts. After that fantasy, I was more set on becoming a therapist.

"As I mentioned, I had a rough year and couple years before I started at St. Joseph's. I was convinced that studying psychology and going to medical school so that I could help others through their hard times and understand why they think would make me happy. Oh how I was wrong. Psychology was so wrong for me — after a year of neuroscience, statistics, and cognitions, I realized more that I don't want to help people fix their thinking later in life, but give them a good start for happy, healthy lifelong thinking. What better way than teaching?"

"First I have to admit that I think Winnie the Pooh was a very wise little bear. But my favorite quote is from a poem by Jorge Luis Borges:

Así que uno planta su propio jardín y decora su propia alma, en lugar de esperar a que alguien le traiga flores.

I have that printed on my phone case since I like it so much. It translates to 'So plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.'"

"Without hesitation, I would say my two older brothers. They were the best role models I could've asked for and they are both so smart and successful in such different ways. I feel like they've worked so hard to get where they are now with no complaints along the way. For whatever I need or have ever needed, they've been there to drop everything and help me, from editing my essays to moving me out of my dorm and everything in between. Nearly everything I do comes with first assuring myself that they would be proud. "

"None!! I always make fun of myself to my friends that my life is so busy that my favorite hobby is sleeping! I basically don't have spare time during the week but when I do find time on weekends I'll often spend it with my cousins, either out exploring or just hanging around the coffee table relaxing. I think that since I don't have much time from week to week, my real hobby is traveling. Whenever I have the time and the money, I'm out of here! As far as a talent, I'm really good at making friends with dogs."

"I feel like this is such an easy answer to give but I do love Jennifer Lawrence. She's goofy and easy-going but can also be smart and serious. Kate Winslet is a favorite of mine too but I think she'd be better at portraying my life than I'd be at living it! I also would consider playing myself — it would be fun but I don't think I'd be able to take myself that seriously."

"Class sizes!!! That's my favorite thing about St. Joe's that you don't get everywhere. I needed the small sizes to get to know the professor and how he/she teaches, grades, thinks, etc. It also encouraged me to go to class all the time!! At McGill I often found myself staying home if it was below 0 degrees or if it was too windy since the professors didn't care if you showed up or note and classes were recorded but at St. Joseph's I feel disrespectful to skip class. These teachers usually have a bigger commute than I do and they can make it, so I better be there and be attentive, too."

"I think St. Joseph's has already given me the gift of stability. At St. Joseph's I always worked out a nice schedule and knew exactly where to go if I needed assistance. Whereas McGill was another problem to add to my list at the time (in terms of scheduling, clubs, workload, being in a different country with different weather, currency, and culture) St. Joseph's instead allowed me to continue a good education while I sorted out some other business in my life."

"I wish I had the chance to do the Nicaragua trip! Unfortunately though I couldn't make that work along with what else I had going on."

"This is a hard question! I have so many possibilities.

"Antoinette Hertel is wonderful because she was my first Spanish professor at St. Joseph's and saw immediately my love for language and travel.

"Fernando Velásquez is also a favorite because his immense knowledge radiates through every lecture and even medieval Hispanic poetry becomes relatable.

"Isabel Alfonso is also fantastic because she is so down to earth while still having time for a family, teaching, continuing research, and encouraging me to head to UMiami like she did! However, besides the Spanish department, Sister Nancy and Professor Moss have done so much for me here, too. Professor Moss really has a knack for making teachers the best they can be; I think I left her class about 300% more capable than when I entered. Sister Nancy is the epitome of what teachers should be - equal parts caring, funny, knowledgeable, approachable, and inspiring."

"I have definitely learned about myself as a student. I need the one-on-one or few-on-one contact to really drive myself towards my best work. I reassured myself that my happiest times in life are the busiest times in life and that I like to be helpful to others. So many times where I was asked to help at something during common hour I shouldn't really skipped to eat lunch or study, but I love the feeling of usefulness which in the long run is better for my lifestyle all around."

"I feel like an overarching lesson in the modern languages department is to just get to know people. We learn about the history of so many countries and all of their peoples and cultures from the birth of that nation until this very day and we are encouraged to go see these places and people in real life and just exist together. Not to look at it like an assignment or as if these people are a case study for class, but rather to learn from simply living."

"My biggest challenge in the three years at St. Joseph's was/is finishing my thesis! However, it's tough for a different reason than one might think. Some people complain about an undergraduate thesis and the work and how long it is and so on, but I don't think that part is too bad. For me, it was that I fell in love with where my thesis headed but that the deadline crept up and I didn't want to hand it in unfinished. It was probably the truest piece I've ever written and I didn't want to just throw in a bunch more pages because I had to have a certain number by a certain date. It was (and still is!) very hard to force myself to keep writing about the research I have even though it went in a newer, better direction than I intended."

"I think that comes from my oldest brother. He once said something to me about willpower that he heard from someone else. He said that we all wake up everyday with some small reserve of willpower, maybe 50 units. We should use those 50 units all on one, same thing every day. It will be tough, he said, to spend every unit on the same exact thing for every single day. But then he said that it's how everything starts. Soon, I'll wake up and do that thing but still have 50 units in my bank. On that day, I'll make another positive change since I've already adopted as habit the first task. Little by little, that willpower has gotten me to a happier, healthier lifestyle."