Lingua Franca

Alumni News: Where are they now? Five Spanish Major Graduates

By Dr. Jon Aske, Department of Foreign Languages

A flurry of activity in the Spanish alumni mailing list has resulted in us hearing from a number of our Spanish major graduates and to learn what they’ve been up to. With their permission, we would like to share this with the Foreign Languages community. We hope other graduates will feel inspired and come out of hiding so that we can know what they are up to and so we can feature them in future issues of Lingua Franca. A lot of people care about them and would like to know what they’re up to.

Diana Buccella

I have been working as a Spanish teacher at Beverly High School since my graduation in May of 2004. I was extremely lucky to find a job so quickly. I also began working on my Master’s degree shortly after in the summer of 2005. I graduated from Middlebury College in August of 2008 with my MA in Spanish. It was one of the best experiences for me, total immersion. I am currently dating a great guy, not married yet, maybe someday. My family is also doing well. I am happy to report that I finally took the plunge and bought a condo in Danvers. I am very happy in my professional and personal life. I thank Salem State for where I am today and the wonderful professors in the Foreign Language Department. I wouldn’t be where I am without your guidance and instruction.

Kate Coelho

Since graduation in 2006, I have primarily focused on family.  My husband and I now have 2 children (Andrew, age 6 and Ava, age 2).  I have been home with them until the youngest starts school.  We have traveled to Brazil 3 times, being totally immersed in their language and culture (my husband is from Brazil).  I have my Spanish language skills to thank for some great trips.  Learning Spanish has opened a huge doorway to another language, Portuguese.  I am nearly fluent in my husband’s first language, which I hope we may one day be able to pass on to our children.   I have taken 2 courses towards a Masters’ in EDU/ESL, but have since put that on a hold, as my family is a little bit more demanding.  I’m not sure what the future holds, but I look forward to applying my Spanish degree to my career soon!

Jamie Grazio

Since I graduated in 2006, I have been working as a tour consultant for EF Educational Tours, selling travels to teachers to take their students abroad on 1 to 2 week trips pretty much all over the world! I started in the Cambridge office in November of 06 and moved out to Denver, Colorado in July of 07 to open up our west office and have lived there ever since… And I love it! I have studying abroad in Madrid during college and majoring in Spanish to thank for getting this job and getting to see the world myself! I am currently standing in the 13th country I’ve gotten to visit, in Africa, staring at giraffes and zebras in the wild. My goal is to fill my passport before it expires in 2012 and I’m almost there! I’ve definitely found that my true passion in life is traveling and have my college experience and education to thank for discovering that and getting to do it as a part of my job. So thank you, SSC!

Maura J. Harrington

Since graduating from SSC in 2004, I’ve gone on to use my Spanish Language & Literature (pedagogical track) degree and MTEL certification to teach at Revere High School for two years before deciding to go to law school. Currently, I am getting ready to graduate from the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover, in Andover, Massachusetts this June! It has been a long road but well worth the effort. I will also be preparing for the July 2010 bar examination.  I hope to have my own law practice one day, in which I will be utilizing my Spanish language skills. In the interim, I’ve taken a few conversational classes in Portuguese. I am sure that my language skills will be of great help to me during my professional career. On a more personal note, I am engaged to wonderful and outstanding human being. His name is Manuel Rivera. Manuel is on active military duty serving the United States Coast Guard as a PO2 (petty officer, 2nd class). He will be completing his 10th year of service and plans on making the military his career. We were engaged on May 25, 2008 in Napa Valley, California (aka, wine country) and we are planning a non-traditional, tropical beach wedding on the sandy beaches of Puerto Rico!  As for jobs, I am currently applying to work for the District Attorney of several Massachusetts’ counties, the FBI and the CIA. I am also working as a manager at my parent’s restaurant: Sebastian’s on Broadway, 733 Broadway, Revere (www.sebastiansonbroadway.com). The restaurant keeps me quite busy in between my studies. I am very happy to report that despite the downward spiraling economy, my family has been extremely lucky to keep the family business open and successful!  The moral of the story here is that hard work truly does pay off, even if you don’t see the results instantaneously, there is hope for anyone who truly works diligently toward making his or her dream come true!

Michael Skorker

Since graduating from Salem State I have been teaching at Medford High School.  This is my fifth year there. I am the class adviser of the Class of 2010 and it’s going to be sad to see them go this year (I have been doing it for the past four years!!!).  In addition to that, I run the annual Talent Show.  It’s a lot of work, but as most of you know, I LOVE to sing.  On Tuesday and Thursday nights you can find me teaching ESL to adults at Medford High.  I teach for a program called the Medford Family Network.  This is my first year teaching ESL so I’m still learning but I absolutely LOVE it.  If all goes as planned, in 2 years I will be teaching English in Argentina!!!  I’ll keep you all posted.  Academically, I am almost finished with my Masters degree which I will get from Middlebury College.  This summer I will be studying in Guadalajara, Mexico where I will FINALLY graduate after four long summers of intense studying.  I can’t wait!!!  I currently live in Malden and I absolutely love it.  It seems that many of you still live in the area too.  Maybe we should have an alumni get together!  Let’s plan it.

Chris Wolforth

I graduated in August 2008 with major in Spanish and Biology. I did a study abroad in Oviedo, Spain Summer of 2006 and Argentina in Spring of 2007. I am currently working at the National Cancer Institute for a company called SAIC doing cancer research and I am also currently enrolled at Johns Hopkins for an MS in Biotechnology and MBA (dual degree program). I am currently living in the DC area (Alexandria Virginia). I see now that my abroad experiences have made more open-minded and now I have a better feel and understanding for different cultures and people. There are people from all over the world working here at the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, MD.  I have no problem with interacting and networking with all of them. On top of helping me out in life all that travel and study abroad was a lot of fun too!