Building on their Spanish fluency
Spanish students in the School of Language, Culture, of Society apply their language skills in classrooms and nonprofits in the U.S. and Mexico
By Colin Bowyer, Communications Manager - October 20, 2025
Each year, fall through summer, both on-campus and Ecampus students majoring or minoring in Spanish are able to receive academic credit for applying their Spanish skills in a professional setting. Overseen by Senior Instructor Raven Chakerian in the School of Language, Culture, and Society, the internship program facilitates partnerships between local schools and non profit organizations with students looking to utilize their Spanish language skills in settings outside of the classroom. With what started initially as a capstone class in spring 2021, Spanish 410 grew into a thriving practicum course benefiting students, as well as the host organizations and their patrons.
“When students are looking to participate in an internship,” explained Chakerian, “we usually start with these questions: What are your goals? What do you want to get out of this opportunity? And, what can you provide to this organization? From there we try to create a connection that will benefit both the student and the host organization.”
Though students are welcome to pitch a new internship location, Chakerian maintains a database of local schools and organizations accepting volunteers. Here are just a few students who participated in Spanish 410 internships over the course of a few years:
Marlin Perez, '25
Perez, ‘25, who grew up in a bilingual community, chose to minor in Spanish to gain a better grasp on the language and its instruction. Paired with her major of human development and family sciences (HDFS), Perez looks to work in the human service field after graduating, specifically helping to support youth.
Aiding her experience working with young adults as part of the HDFS curriculum was her internship at Linus Pauling Middle School in Corvallis. Working in a 6th-grade language arts class, Perez assisted the teacher with bilingual instruction, helping students with comprehension, understanding vocabulary, and answering questions.
“Linus Pauling is a bilingual school,” Perez explained, “so many enrolled students are living in Latino households learning Spanish through their home environment from their parents, just like I was. I was so happy to be at Linus Pauling. Often, students who learn Spanish at home struggle having to navigate their language learning and growing identity as a Latino in an academic environment. I could relate to that experience. I cherished connecting with students and being able to talk about larger issues happening in their communities.”
Building the interpersonal connections with students was hugely valuable and bolstered Perez’s passion for human service work. The students felt supported and comfortable around Perez, but especially those of families whose parents were working in the agricultural fields in the Willamette Valley.
“As someone who grew up speaking Spanish and with parents who work in the fields, I could empathize with the pre-teens and connect at a personal level with them.”
Perez also completed a second internship as an assistant for Dr. Valeria Ochoa in the School of Language, Culture, and Society’s Heritage Spanish program, and served as a volunteer for 4-H Youth Development program through OSU’s Extension Service, helping children of Latino families navigate their transition to living in Oregon.
Perez is now a graduate from OSU and works as a Community Health Worker in Linn, Benton, and Lane counties at a local organization. She helps Latino families navigate the health system through resources and services around Oregon.
Lara Rupnawar
Since enrolling at OSU, senior Lara Rupnawar searched for interdisciplinary ways to combine her major in mechanical
engineering with her Spanish minor. Each summer, as a member of the College of Engineering’s SHARE Lab, Rupnawar would participate in events hosted by the College Assistant Migrant Program, where prospective first-generation college students could interact with faculty and current students of schools, departments, and labs on campus.
Rupnawar would often volunteer with other lab members at the SHARE Lab’s station that offered a small hands-on activity. Soon after starting, she began to realize that with Spanish being the primary language spoken at the events, none of her materials were.
Working with members of the SHARE Lab, Rupnawar created a simple circuit activity for kids attending the program with their parents. Rupnawar wrote step-by-step instructions in Spanish for both children and young adults to create a closed circuit made up entirely of paper that would bring energy from a small battery to illuminate a lightbulb.
“I noticed a need for bilingual resources because some program participants preferred speaking in Spanish,” she said. “It was not only a new side to learning Spanish, but it also helped me develop my confidence in applying Spanish to more complex engineering topics.”
Kelsey Olivas
Junior Kelsey Olivas, majoring in both business and Spanish, grew up speaking Spanish in California’s Salinas Valley. After briefly switching to studying German, Olivas felt her Spanish proficiency slip while living in Oregon. Wanting to get back on track and work in a Spanish-speaking professional setting, Olivas learned about an internship opportunity from Chakerian that would combine both her academic pursuits.
Former OSU language instructor Ana Gomez founded a coffee company called 94 Pueblos that works with small, women-owned coffee plantations in Colombia. To supplement their coffee business, Gomez started Capra Travel to offer guided tours of coffee farms and local communities in Colombia. Needing more help with market research, Gomez hired Olivas as an intern.
“The tours are targeted towards educators who are interested in single-origin coffee plantations,” explained Olivas. “Though these tours are extremely unique, I helped Carrie and Ana by researching other coffee tourism opportunities in South America, comparing and contrasting what travel groups and companies have to offer.”
Olivas’s Spanish-language background put her a step ahead when conducting research online and speaking with representatives. Though Olivas’ family is from Mexico, communicating with Spanish speakers from Central and South America provided the biggest opportunity and challenge. Now, finishing her last year at OSU, Olivas is looking forward to applying her market research skills towards finishing her business degree.
Adam Lemcio, '25
Spanish major Ecampus student, Adam Lemcio, ‘25, already had decades of experience in the tech industry. As a non-traditional student, Lemcio returned to the (virtual) classroom to master the Spanish language, something he’d been wanting to do for years. Lemcio, who lives in the Seattle area, was looking to apply what he was learning digitally to his everyday life.
“One of the challenges of learning Spanish online is that there’s a smaller speaking element,” said Lemcio. “I was building a foundational knowledge through reading and writing, but you learn the most when speaking it in the moment, non-scripted.”
Lemcio interned at the Latino Educational Training Institute (LETI) in Everett, Washington. LETI supports Latino immigrants and low-income individuals to achieve personal and financial success through GE and English classes as well as vocational training. Lemcio plugged into LETI as a beginning English instructor, building a curriculum from the ground up and leading instruction. Over the course of six months, Lemcio taught pronunciation, numbers, verb conjugation and more to mostly working professionals with representation from across Latin America.
“It really hit home the urgency and need to learn practical, consumable bits of English language, and not just starting from page one of a textbook,” explained Lemcio. “The students in the class had already spent their entire week working and now they’re choosing to attend English classes on their Saturdays. I needed to make the most of their time and give them something to take home.”
Lemcio described his time at LETI as one of the most “profound and longest lasting educational experiences” he’s ever had. “I was standing in front of them as an English teacher, but also as a Spanish student. I was learning as much from them as they were learning from me.”
Valerie Iriarte, '25
Ecampus student Valerie Iriarte, ‘25, saw the online flexibility of the Spanish program as a huge advantage as she continued to work close to her home in Northern California. Though growing up in a Spanish-speaking household, Iriarte still wanted to gain a better understanding of the language and its roots, as well as potentially pursue a career in translation services.
For Spanish 410, Iriarte was searching for an internship near where she lived, but nothing came to fruition. After talking to Chakerian, she pointed Iriarte to Zooniverse, an online platform where students can volunteer to be a team member of academic research projects across the country.
For her Zooniverse project, Iriarte joined a team from all over the world researching Gonçalo António da Silva Ferreira Sampaio, an 19th Century Portuguese botanist known for his discoveries of algae, lichen, and the the mycological genus Sampaioa. Iriarte’s contributions to the project were translating letters to and from Sampaio from Spanish to English.
“I gained a huge appreciation of history and patience,” said Iriarte. “Translating 19th Century documents written in older Spanish was a huge challenge for me, but I felt prepared enough to feel confident in what I was doing.”
Nancy Aguilar, '25
Nancy Aguilar, ‘25, first came to the United States when she was 15, arriving alone from Mexico and settling in Ontario, Oregon. Navigating school and work, Aguilar began to see a pattern: immigrants like her were often stuck in difficult jobs, the kind that came with low pay, no benefits, and few protections. At first, she believed it was simply a language issue; maybe if people spoke English better, they’d have better opportunities. But over time, especially after enrolling in Spanish courses at OSU, Aguilar realized the problem went much deeper.
Double majoring in psychology and Spanish, Aguilar initially wanted to support the Spanish-speaking community by entering the healthcare field, but what she found in the School of Language, Culture, and Society was far more than just language instruction. Aguilar found a community. Professors and students who were passionate, thoughtful, and unafraid to face the hard truths of our world. Thanks to that foundation, Aguilar took advantage of multiple internship opportunities, offering her the experience to work with underserved populations in Oregon and abroad.
Aguilar began working at the Science & Math Investigative Learning Experiences (SMILE) pre-college program, leading culturally specific workshops for children, many of whom came from immigrant backgrounds.
“Incorporating Spanish-language and culturally relevant materials into programs like SMILE is so critical,” said Aguilar. “It’s not just about language, it’s about validation. It’s about creating a space where students feel safe, seen, and excited to learn.”
For another internship, Aguilar returned to her hometown San Miguel Acuexcomac, Puebla, after being inspired from co-teaching at dual-immersion Garfield Elementary School in Corvallis. Aguilar reached out to the town’s city council to host a summer school program at the local public library. For three months, Aguilar created a safe space for children and taught age-appropriate and interactive lessons that she designed.
Eloise Flanagan
Sophomore Eloise Flanagan hopes to become an elementary school teacher after graduating with an education degree, and a stint leading an afterschool Spanish program at Franklin School in Corvallis may have provided a new perspective. During the 2025 academic year, Flanagan helped run the K-8 school’s Spanish club that gave middle school students the opportunity to learn the language’s fundamentals.
“This was a great opportunity for me to work with students outside of my primary age group and in a new learning environment,” said Flanagan. “It also allowed me to practice Spanish and provide experience teaching the language in front of students.”
Flanagan drafted lesson plans that were relevant to the learning styles of not only pre-teens, but also those who, for the most part, had no knowledge of Spanish.
“It was a little off-putting at first and I had to lose any sort of awkwardness and nervousness quickly,” said Flanagan. “But the rapport I built with the students was so rewarding. I learned how to better connect and engage with young people.”
