Sebastian Afanador following his completion of the 2023 Governor's School session. Photo submitted
At the beginning of each school year, several juniors are nominated by Watauga High School to apply for Governor’s School to expand their academic journey. Each student chooses a subject to focus their studies on while at the school, most studying math or social studies.
“Governor's School is a four-week program where students from across North Carolina live and learn together on a college campus," said Afanador. "I was at Winston Salem State."
Last fall, senior Sebastain Afanador applied to Governor's School, writing several essays as to why he wanted to attend and one about his study of choice: Spanish.
“We were able to focus on a specific discipline,” Afanador said. “I chose Spanish because much of my family speaks only Spanish, so I've missed out on a large part of interaction with them due to that language barrier. I hoped to improve my language skills to cross that gap, but also I think it is important to learn a second or third language because of the new people and places it opens you up to.”
After taking multiple Spanish classes here at Watauga, Afanador hoped to become even more fluent using the opportunity of Governor's School. However, this subject was not extremely common among Governor’s School students.
“Not too many people went for Spanish. My class was about eighteen people and was smaller than many of the other classes. Social sciences or mathematics, for example, had maybe around fifty per class, though they were often split up,” said Afanador. “Most people that I met and talked to at Governor's School weren't there to study Spanish, so I don't think it is terribly common to go for Spanish, but there was still a good group of motivated students that I got to learn with!”
Along with grammar and speech, the classes also focused on the cultural aspects of Spanish culture, allowing Afanador to further focus on his newfound connection to his family.
“We also spent every Friday class period dancing, which was something very new that I learned,” said Afanador. “We started by learning salsa, and later learned bachata and merengue. After gaining some sort of proficiency in the dance, we opened an elective seminar to the whole campus and we were able to teach maybe 100 kids to dance salsa which was super neat.”
Governor’s School not only taught Afanador speaking skills, but allowed him to become more understanding of the cultural aspect of his family and gain friendships along the way.
“After attending Governor's School, my Spanish skills improved, as well as my interpersonal skills,” said Afanador. “I made several friends from Spanish class and it was cool to even take that language outside of the classroom and use it day-to-day.”
Comments