How my "immersion journey" to Spanish fluency began

 In the winter of 1996, Good Morning America aired a week’s worth of shows in Miami. The report revealed a city on the precipice of a cultural renaissance, fueled by the growing presence of European fashionistas and the great third wave of Cuban immigration. It was a era defined by Versace, art deco revival, and the arrival of some 35,000 brave and bold "balseros".

Learning as a volunteer ESL teacher in Miami Beach, 1996

A college student struggling with motivation, I was a glued to this sunshine spectacular every morning as I prepared to step out into ice and snow to make my way to class. I watched as Jon Secada sang the Spanish version of his hit song "Just Another Day without You" on a sun-drenched beach in front of crystal blue waters. And as a reporter spoke with people at a bustling sidewalk cafes along Ocean Drive, he noted that he felt he was somewhere along the Mediterranean coast rather than a beach town in the southern United States.

It was a dynamic and exciting scene. As a Political Science major and aspiring journalist with dreams of gaining real-world experience and becoming bilingual, I wanted to be a part of it. I spied Miami through the lens of that GMA report as the land of opportunity. So I decided almost immediately that it would be worthwhile to take a year-long break from college so I could go and check things out for myself.

With nothing more than a bag of clothes, $50 in my pocket and a plan to sell the hemp macramé beaded jewelry I was making at the time (hey, it was the 90s!), I jumped in my car and headed south to chase my dreams. When I arrived - after first going to Key West and Fort Lauderdale before I had earned a bit more cash and gained the courage to see if I could make it in the big city of Miami - I found a room for rent in North Beach and got a job as a waiter at the local Denny's where the customers and staff all spoke Spanish. Then I involved myself as a volunteer in an adult learning center in hopes of helping out the newly landed refugees and maybe make a few new friends in the process.

This was the beginning of an incredible experience that would forever impact my perspective on the world and completely change the trajectory of my life, for good. I became fluent in Spanish in just eight months. And when I returned to college, I added a Spanish concentration to my degree, got an opportunity to study in Mexico for a semester, and became a highly sought-after bilingual journalist immediately upon graduation.