Welcome!
My name is Abaigael Callahan, and this is an electronic portfolio of my experiences from the start of my Bachelors Degree at California State University, Monterey Bay.
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Statement of Purpose
I have always had a strong desire to communicate. From the early days of my childhood, when I simultaneously learned as much as I could about foreign cultures and learned to mediate conversations to facilitate clear communication among classmates, I understood that communication is what I am good at. I started off slowly, learning bits of French from my mother, and taking four years worth of German in High School. I also took several years of Dramatic Art classes, which helped me learn how to make myself better understood by others. By the time I graduated, I had my clear goal of learning everything I could about different outlets of communication.
At my community college, along with my general education classes, I studied Latin and American Sign Language, the former allowing me to see the bones of a language that can be easily applied to several languages of the world, and the latter allowing me to communicate without words. The conjunction of my ASL classes and my Speech classes made me highly aware of how much of a statement I could make without saying a word, and I continued to study the effects of body language in both conversational and presentational contexts.
Upon my move to Cal State, Monterey Bay, I decided that the time had come to learn a new language completely. I chose Japanese due to a long held interest in the historical and pop-culture of the country, and set to work learning one of the most difficult languages for English speakers to learn. The past three years have been difficult, but they have also been massively rewarding. This language opened another outlet for me, in learning a language that was not Latin-based. It also allowed me a chance to learn the cultural aspects connecting to a language that my prior language classes had been missing. That, along with the emphasis CSUMB put on teaching about social justice and responsibility, has shaped me into the person I am today.
I plan to use this collective knowledge of how languages are built towards a profession. My current plans involve joining the Air Force and working in a position that allows me to facilitate communication between two or more parties. If, during this path, I get the chance to learn another language to completion, I will tackle that opportunity whole-heartedly.
At my community college, along with my general education classes, I studied Latin and American Sign Language, the former allowing me to see the bones of a language that can be easily applied to several languages of the world, and the latter allowing me to communicate without words. The conjunction of my ASL classes and my Speech classes made me highly aware of how much of a statement I could make without saying a word, and I continued to study the effects of body language in both conversational and presentational contexts.
Upon my move to Cal State, Monterey Bay, I decided that the time had come to learn a new language completely. I chose Japanese due to a long held interest in the historical and pop-culture of the country, and set to work learning one of the most difficult languages for English speakers to learn. The past three years have been difficult, but they have also been massively rewarding. This language opened another outlet for me, in learning a language that was not Latin-based. It also allowed me a chance to learn the cultural aspects connecting to a language that my prior language classes had been missing. That, along with the emphasis CSUMB put on teaching about social justice and responsibility, has shaped me into the person I am today.
I plan to use this collective knowledge of how languages are built towards a profession. My current plans involve joining the Air Force and working in a position that allows me to facilitate communication between two or more parties. If, during this path, I get the chance to learn another language to completion, I will tackle that opportunity whole-heartedly.