Ronda G.

Howdy:

I grew up on a corn farm in Nebraska where I attended the same school K-12. Unfortunately, NO, I repeat, NO foreign languages were offered in the little town where I attended. Thus, my first exposure to French was in college.

Studying a foreign language for the first time in college was a challenge since my classmates had already studied the language. I studied French for 2 years at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln. After my first year of studying French, I was fortunate to accompany another Wesleyan student, to work in Strasbourg in the Diaconat Bethesda. This was during the summer of 1983. For six weeks, we lived and prayed and ate with the Methodist Sisters (nuns) in the hospital. I had known of Catholic nuns but I didn't even know that Methodist nuns existed. Following Strasbourg, I went to study French in an old chateau outside of Castelnaudary in southern France. That summer was a turning point in my life. I stayed in France for the maximum number of days my visa would allow. I had never been away from home that long before. During that summer, I discovered my mission (calling) in life which was my passion to assist international students in the U.S.

For most of my professional career, I was an international student advisor. I started at U.D. in Irving. After working there for two years, I moved to Costa Rica where I lived for nearly one year. I studied Spanish and taught English. Upon re-entry to the U.S., I landed a job at UNT. My last job in the field of advising was at U.T. Southwestern Medical University assisting international scientists and researchers. Following two divorces and the birth of my children, I found out about Berlitz Language Center where I could teach English. This worked with my schedule of caring for my two children and living as a single parent.

Teaching English is truly enjoyable compared to working with immigration paperwork as I did in my previous field. I desire to be a more effective teacher of ESOL, thus, I am pursuing a TESOL Certificate at UTA. I have worked at Richland College in Dallas for two years in the American English & Culture Institute. I teach grammar and listening/speaking in Level 2 (lower intermediate) to F-1 students.

In 1986, I received my Bachelor's degree in Sociology/Anthropology (with a minor in French), and in 1993, I completed a Master of Liberal Arts Degree from SMU. As you can see, I did NOT major in English so I still have a lot to learn.

I'm thrilled to be a student in this program. I look forward to getting to know all of you.