By Grace Bailey, Staff Writer

At Lebanon Valley College, students cannot only learn a language from knowledgeable professors, but also starting this semester they can also participate in a language lab, for Spanish or French, with two teaching assistants who just arrived from Argentina and France.

This year, teaching assistants Noelia Carrizo and Manon Walter are the two newest additions to the language department. Both women were chosen to participate in the prestigious Fulbright Foreign Assistant Teaching Program. This grant enables teachers from abroad to come to the U.S., teach secondary education students their language and culture and take courses at American universities.

Carrizo comes to LVC from Catamarca, a small province in the north of Argentina. After earning a Bachelor of Arts, she began teaching primary school students. Yet Carrizo always knew she wanted to be an English teacher at the University level, so she continued looking for opportunities.

She was drawn to apply for the Fulbright program because she always knew she wanted to teach adults.

“They are more interested in their studies and in their future,” Carrizo said. “They really know what they want in their lives. Usually it’s also challenging to work with adults because they demand a lot from their teacher, but that’s good.”

Recalling the path that led her to teach in Annville this semester, she mentioned she wanted to be a teacher from an early age.

“When I was a little child in primary school, I had a really good teacher,” Carrizo said. “She was strict. She wanted us to learn and progress. She was good, and when I saw her I said to myself ‘I want to be like her’ up there teaching and helping students.”

Whereas French teaching assistant Walter did not have a defining moment that led her here, she had more of an intuition that she wanted to live abroad.

“I love languages and other cultures, so for me at the beginning I was sure I’d go elsewhere,” Walter said.

Walter already has earned both her bachelor’s and master’s in addition to studying at different universities in both France and Germany. Her home, Thionville, is along the northeast of France near Luxembourg and Germany.

After completing a rigorous application process and being selected, she then had to choose a college to teach at. She ultimately chose LVC for its proximity to major east coast cities.

So far both are enjoying their time here. They’ve appreciated the friendliness of the students.

“You can’t go to a place without knowing somebody,” Walter said. “I’ve been here for only three weeks, yet anytime I go somewhere I know somebody. It’s kind of cool.”

For Carrizo, this experience is a great chance to prepare for her future in teaching university students. While instructing students here, she hopes to transfer those skills to teaching in higher education back in Argentina.

Both will be at LVC until the end of the academic year in May 2017. Until then, students will be able to engage with both teachers and learn about Spanish and French culture in a relevant and interactive manner.