Chloe Collon was selected as the recipient of the 2024 Agnes Nicolini Vincenti Award for an Outstanding Thesis in RLL. This award is given to the RLL student with the most outstanding Honor’s Thesis in the past academic year. It was made possible by a generous gift from the estate of Natline V. Scott in 1989.
Each year we ask the recipient of the Vincenti Award to write a bit about themselves and the role that their language studies have played in their lives and how they hope to use that knowledge in the future.
Fluency in another language has been a goal of mine since I was in elementary school. Spanish was the first language that was introduced to me in fourth grade, and from that moment on I have been working towards that goal of fluency. Throughout my studies, from elementary school to college, Spanish has been the consistent theme in my life. While I entered undergrad very unsure of what path I would take, Spanish was something I knew I would be pursuing. However, I could never have imagined that I would graduate with a thesis and highest honors in Spanish.
During my freshman and sophomore years, my Spanish classes were always the highlights of my semesters. It was never a chore to do the homework, write the essays, or watch the movies. I was so eager to learn and soak up anything offered to me. From Introduction to Translation, to Colombian Cinema, and Feminist Struggles in Contemporary Spain, I have loved exploring so many different topics, all while continuing to build my Spanish fluency and culture knowledge.
Then, during my junior year, I was able to accomplish my lifelong dream of studying abroad. I spent 5 months in Madrid, Spain and my time there surpassed all of expectations. My favorite experience while abroad was the internship I elected to do for my cultural immersion credit. I worked at an English academy and helped teach english twice a week. I was not only able to connect to young students and families, but also make life long friendships with the teachers at the academy. I cherish the moments from this experience like getting tapas after the academy closed with the teachers, and even being invited over to dinner by a students family.
While studying abroad helped me realize how far I had come in my Spanish fluency journey, it also made me realize how far I had to go. So, even though I had completed my Spanish major with classes abroad, I knew I wanted to continue taking Spanish classes at Michigan. My honors thesis journey began here, with the help of Professor Teresa Satterfield, who took a chance on a random student that emailed her asking her to be the advisor of a thesis. During the research process, I had the pleasure of going to En Nuestra Lengua, a Spanish saturday school in Ann Arbor, where I was able to connect with the amazing students. In addition, I had the amazing experience of traveling to San Juan, Puerto Rico to present the research alongside Viviana Vélez Negrón. Completing the honors thesis during my senior year was the perfect conclusion to not only my time at Michigan, but my Spanish studies. All of the work that went into my thesis helped me gain a level of comfort in speaking, writing, and researching in Spanish that I didn’t know I was capable of. I am so thankful for my family, professors, the RLL department, CGIS, and especially Professor Teresa Satterfield and Viviana Vélez Negrón for everything they have done to help me reach a level of Spanish fluency that my younger self could never have imagined.
While I won’t be working with Spanish much after graduation, I will continue to pursue the language on my own time, and find new avenues to speak and learn Spanish, hopefully adding in some more travel experiences. Forever Go Blue!
