It All Started With A Little Spanish
By Karin Sanden '04
The Concordia Language Villages has a very special place in my heart. I started going to El Lago del Bosque, the Spanish village, the summer after sixth grade. For the following five summers, I continued attending the Spanish Language Village and my love for Hispanic culture developed into something indescribable. After studying abroad in Argentina, I worked five summers at the Spanish village as a counselor and business manager. I wanted to help other villagers have the same amazing experience I did.
In the fall of 2000, I enrolled at Concordia, knowing its very strong language department would help me continue building my Spanish skills. Because of my experience at El Lago del Bosque and my study abroad I was able to enroll in upper level courses my first year on campus. That gave me even more options in my major.
While at Concordia, I went on a May Seminar to Peru, Chile, Argentina and Paraguay. I also lived in Mexico City for five months, where I attended classes at a local university and interned at a very large bank in the investment and financial department. Following graduation, I worked as a personal banker at Wells Fargo Bank, Minneapolis, where I helped Spanish-speaking clients. They were always surprised to find that I am a blond-haired, blue-eyed Norwegian who speaks fluent Spanish.
I'm now pursuing my MBA in international management at Thunderbird - The Garvin School of International Management in Glendale, Ariz., and recently studied abroad in Prague, Czech Republic, and Monterrey, Mexico. After graduation I hope to work in human resources and training, using my Spanish and knowledge about the Hispanic culture on a regular basis. ÁMuchas gracias, Concordia y El Lago del Bosque for making all of this possible!
