June 2010 - Shannon Sexton

Name: Shannon Sexton
Occupation: Nurse
Time Studying at Tierra: 1 year

1. How did you start studying with us ?
"I became interested in learning Spanish a couple years ago. After a few
months of using various learning programs online and playing CDs in the
car, I enrolled in a local community college evening Spanish classes. I
felt that the learning there went a bit slowly and was rather inconsistent.
As we got to the third semester, there were not enough interested students
left for them to continue the classes. Luckily, I met Elyse right around
then and she told me about a new Spanish learning center that would be
opening very soon. I checked out the website, saw that it was affordable
and signed up for classes at Tierra. This is when my learning really took
off. The instructors really help the students excel at their learning.
Rebecca is a very friendly and dedicated individual. I think I speak for
all the students when I say that they make us feel welcome. I feel very
lucky that we have such a great learning resource in our community."

2. Why are you studying Spanish?
"There are a lot of Spanish-speaking people in our community, and
I thought it would be nice to be able to communicate with them. When I
travel, I hear Spanish being spoken everywhere I go. Also, I like to learn
new things and learning a new language is fun."

3. Can you tell us of a time you have been able to use what you have learned studying here?
"We had a Spanish-speaking patient in the clinic a few weeks ago.
It was great to be able to give her follow up instructions that she could
understand."

4. What is your favorite part about your experience here at Tierra?
"My favorite part is how friendly the staff is. What I feel is the most
important part is that the instructors personalize the classes to the needs
of the students in those classes. They also don't have such a strict agenda
that we can't stop and go over other concepts that come up in the course of
the class."

Congratulations Shannon!!