Well, friends, summer is upon us! Where did this semester go? It seems just yesterday I was staring at my 19-credit-hour schedule (in case you aren’t aware, that’s more credits than any sane person would take) wondering if I would make it out alive.
Finals haven’t started yet, so it’s too soon to tell. But I’d say my chances are pretty good.
With my third year of college coming to a stressful/relieving close, I’m excited for the relative ease of summer. What, pray tell, am I doing this summer?
I’ll be spending the first half of summer taking the intensive Arabic language course here at NC State. I only started taking Arabic last fall, which is a somewhat late start for a college-level foreign language. I fell in love immediately. I’ve always loved studying language, but Arabic has been quite the rewarding adventure, and I’m sure will continue to entertain me throughout the summer. The class is five weeks, six hours a day, five days a week. I will be eating, breathing, and dreaming Arabic – which is perfection in my book!
NC State offers a wide variety of foreign languages, which is awesome for any fellow linguaphiles. These languages are: French, German, Spanish (my high school language), Urdu, Italian, Japanese, Chinese (my first college language), Farsi, Portuguese, Russian, and Arabic. Majors are available in French, German, and Spanish. Minors are available in all the others.
Taking a foreign language is required for most NC State students. Depending on your major, you may have to take as many as 5 classes, even if you aren’t majoring in a language! We have excellent instructors, and relatively tight-knit programs, meaning that you are likely to establish a relationship with the instructors that lasts throughout your language study – or even study abroad, which is a great way to get foreign language credit!
One day, fellow intern Tony and I were exploring our awesome new Hunt Library. We stumbled upon a whiteboard and markers, and employing our language skills, managed to write, “We Love the new library!” in Arabic (me), Chinese (me), Japanese (Tony), and Spanish (both of us plus Google). A few weeks later, we found this picture on the Hunt Library website.
Students had contributed their own translations in many different languages, all saying, “We love the new library!” Tony and I were thrilled. That summarizes the incredible diversity here at NC State – the very soul of why I love this university.
I look forward to returning to Admissions in the fall. In the meantime, have a wonderful summer!