College Up Close: Del Rodriguez, Romance studies
During the pandemic, junior Del Rodriguez devoted some of her time to learning more about Brazilian culture and Lusophone –– Portuguese-speaking –– communities.
Rodriguez, who was already fluent in Spanish and considers both Celaya, Mexico, and Cullowhee, North Carolina, her hometowns, quickly realized she wanted to pursue her passion for Portuguese at Carolina.
“UNC has an excellent Portuguese program, and the minute I got accepted, I knew Romance studies was the route I wanted to take,” she said.
In her major, her favorite course so far has been “Climate Change and the Cultural Imagination: Lusophone Interpretations,” which looked at climate change “through a different cultural lens in places where the effects are sometimes more tangible than those in the U.S,” Rodriguez said.
Outside her coursework, Rodriguez practices her third language by watching movies, reading books, chatting with friends and native speakers, and attending the Portuguese bate-papo, an informal weekly conversation with UNC faculty.
Rodriguez sends gratitude to her Tar Heel community, including her “caring, dedicated and devoted” Romance studies mentors: Richard Vernon, Chloe Hill, Pedro Lopes de Almeida and Kristine Taylor.
She also gives a shout-out to the Carolina Latinx Center, adding that they are “one of the most welcoming places on campus,” and helped her as a first-generation student to transition to life at Carolina.
That transition includes her all-time favorite UNC memory: her first day in her first-year residence hall.
“It was the first time it sunk in that I had made it to college,” she said. “For a long time, I didn’t know whether college would be an option for me, and finally, having that moment that marked the start of my time here has been one of the most rewarding experiences.”
After she graduates, Rodriguez –– who has a second major in global studies with a focus on Latin America –– plans to use her knowledge and skills to become a Portuguese and Spanish interpreter to make the languages and cultures she loves more accessible to all.
By Jess Abel ’19
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