Hello, my name is De’Nazia Hebron (pronounced “duh-neigh-ja” “he-bron”) and I am currently an English student at Old Dominion University. I am seeking an English degree with a concentration in creative writing. Or: Hola. Mi nombre es De’Nazia Hebron, y soy una estudiante de ingles en Old Dominion University. Aprendí español para diez años. Ahora, necesito aprender español para graduarme.

I first started going to college in the summer of 2021. I initially went to Brightpoint Community College (formerly known as John Tyler Community College), where I graduated in the fall of 2022 with an associates in liberal arts and general studies. I then transferred to ODU in the spring of 2023, where I also stayed in the dormitory for the first time. Tengo veintitrés años. Empecé la universidad en 2021. Tengo un reconocimiento de la universidad: me gradué de un colegio comunitario magna cum laude. Empecé a ir a ODU en 2023. Esta es la primera vez que vivo en los dormitorios de la universidad.

Empecé a tomar clases de español en 2013, en 7th grado. En 7th grado, quería aprender japonés, pero mi escuela solo enseñó español. Tomé clases de español para diez años. My history with taking Spanish started in the seventh grade, which was around 2013. I initially signed up to take a world languages class, as I was interested in a variety of languages — such as Italian and Japanese. But the class was suddenly transformed mostly into a Spanish class, as the teacher could only really teach Spanish. And I’ve been taking Spanish ever since then. I took the second half of Spanish I while in the eighth grade, and I then took Spanish II in the ninth grade, and Spanish III in the tenth grade. I will say that my favorite Spanish teacher was my Spanish III teacher. I felt as if I learned the most Spanish when it came to her. I remember a group project where we made horchata and another group project where we filmed a telenovela.

Just when I thought that my journey in taking Spanish was over, I found out that taking a language at an intermediate level was the only required class of my liberal arts degree. Because I had absolutely no background in French, it was a no-brainer to return to Spanish. Fearing that I was rusty, I took a Beginner II course to relearn my skills during the spring of 2022. It was one of the first college classes that I had taken in person, and it was a nice experience. My teacher was fun and I managed to make a couple of friends at the time. Admittedly, I didn’t do as well as my classes continued on. Intermediate I and Intermediate II passed by, and I received a low grade in Intermediate II. It was enough to graduate, but not enough to transfer over to ODU. Hence why I had to take Intermediate II, or Spanish 202, again for the summer of 2023… Which I failed, and therefore I had to take Spanish 202 for the third time in the fall of 2023. Third time’s the charm!