Sonia Barrios Tinoco is associate professor of Spanish and chair of the Modern Languages and Cultures Department at Seattle University. She was born in Venezuela where she studied Literature at the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, and then earned her Spanish Literature master’s Degree at Washington State University and a Hispanic Languages and Literatures Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley. Her main area of study lies in marginalized and out of the law subjects, hence she has published essays such as “Reconceptualizing the ‘American Dream’ for Undocumented Immigrants: The Yearning for a Lost Sense of Family, Identity and Belonging”; “The Construction of Identity through Violence: Joaquín Murrieta’s Corrido,” “Maria Moura, a woman outlaw,” among others. She is also deeply invested in migration studies and for ten years has been teaching a course entitled “Buscando visa para un sueño”: Cultural products on (Ill)legal Immigration.

CENTERING WISDOM

1. Reflection:  Reflecting on Sonia's story, what is most striking about her experience as a child and young adult learning languages? Does it resemble any struggles that your have undergone yourself? 

2. Reflection: Sonia presents the value of pushing our boundaries in new and often frustrating ways. How can we as adults continue to stretch and grow beyond the grasp of the education system?

3. Activity:  Grab a pencil and paper and create a brainstorm of 12 ways you want to grow and stretch as a person. Next, separate them into to categories: long-term and short-term. In the long term category cross out the ones you are closest to reaching. In the short-term do the same but with the ones you are the furthest from reaching. These are your goals for today.

CHECK OUT THESE LINKS

Do You Speak Kindness Links to an external site.

Connecting, Not Just Communicating: The Beauty of Learning a Foreign Language Links to an external site.

Understanding Body Language and Facial Expressions Links to an external site.

Links to an external site.