Help Fund Kyle's Language Journey in Barcelona, Spain

My love for Spain started way back in 2016 when I started taking Spanish in undergrad as part of my language requirements for my Major at Penn State Behrend. I took 12 credits of Spanish and a study abroad course on “Iberian Civilization” where I had the opportunity to travel to Spain for 10 days at the end of the course with my wonderful Spanish professor, Dr Laurie Urraro! I’ve wanted to go back ever since!

An unforeseen opportunity came up prior to graduation. An opportunity to teach English in China! Obviously, my Spanish was of no use there! But I took the opportunity anyway. See my album in China here.

I came back right before Covid-19 hit, in late October 2019, and then went to Grad School for Higher Education Administration at Duquesne University.

After graduation, I landed my first full-time position as a Residence Life Coordinator in East Halls at Penn State, University Park. Unfortunately, the job was very stressful, and we worked 19 days in a row in the fall semester with no overtime. As a Penn Stater, I had high hopes for working for my Alma Mater, but unfortunately my position ended abruptly along with a few coworkers of mine, while everyone else on my staff team in East Halls quit as well. In short, we tried to Unionize. Penn State didn’t like that and eventually pushed all of the East Halls coordinators out in one way or another.

I’ve been looking for full-time employment in Higher Ed, since October 2023, but due to the national drop in enrollment in Universities right now, and the lack of open positions, it has been incredibly difficult to find work in Higher Education. I’ve looked all over Pennsylvania, NYC, D.C., and Connecticut, where I live now.

I took on a part-time position at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, since they told me they would create a full-time position for me, but unfortunately, a cut in state funding led to a cut in a few full-time opportunities at the Aquarium.

In short, it has been a ROUGH time ever since I’ve returned to the U.S. So, I have reconsidered teaching English abroad again, since my TEFL/TESOL is good for life!

A friend of mine shared with me an opportunity to teach English for 20 hours a week and learn Spanish for 20 hours a week in Barcelona, Spain, one of my favorite cities that I’ve ever been to! I’ve decided that I should take the leap (this time only across the Atlantic, rather than to the other side of the world) to strengthen my Spanish (with aims to become fluent) while strengthening Spaniards’ English! My goal is to strengthen my resume for future employment, since Spanish language knowledge is becoming increasingly desirable in the U.S.

Nevertheless, the job won’t pay a lot, and the price of the 12-month Spanish course is over 3,000 Euros, 500 for enrollment, and 500 for health insurance. My goal is to raise 5,000 USD to cover these costs, and to cover travel expenses, so that I can thrive in Barcelona and focus on my career goals, rather than simply getting by.

Whatever you can donate will be of great help!

Muchas gracias por su generosidad!