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Just like family

Haley Bradbury says the key to a successful university education is doing what you like. If she didn鈥檛 have that attitude, she may well have ended up on a completely different path.

鈥淏efore I started at Dal I was thinking about taking science, but I realized it didn鈥檛 interest me at all,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hen I read about Spanish and International Development Studies (IDS) on the Dal website, I realized that鈥檚 what I was interested in. It鈥檚 easier to learn if you鈥檙e interested in what you鈥檙e taking. And if you take courses you like, you鈥檙e going to end up somewhere you like to be.鈥�

Haley grew up in Shubenacadie and Dartmouth, N.S., and always knew she wanted to come to Dal. She wanted to stay fairly close to her family and was drawn in by Dal鈥檚 reputation. When she arrived to start her double major in Spanish and IDS, she discovered it was better than she imagined.

鈥淪panish is a very tight-knit department,鈥� she says. 鈥淵ou become friends with your profs and the office staff. They make it more like a family. I spent most of my time in the Spanish department because it was always so much fun in there.鈥�

The camaraderie in the program stems from the inherent nature of learning a language, especially in small classes where you get to know your classmates. Haley says a lot of time is spent talking with each other, bouncing ideas around, and doing group work.

鈥淚t was great working so closely with a group of like-minded people, working toward the same goals,鈥� she says. 鈥淟earning the language was so cool because you walk away with knowledge and a skill that you can use any time. I took a French course in my last year of university, and spoke it with a Spanish accent!鈥�

She points out that it鈥檚 a challenge learning a new language鈥攕omething that requires effort every year. But she adds the professors in the Spanish program genuinely care about their students and are always willing to help guide them through.

鈥淛ohn Kirk has always been one of my favourites,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here are rumours that he鈥檚 too hard and his courses are too difficult, but he鈥檚 hilarious and he really knows his stuff. He teaches it so well that you just soak it all in. He鈥檚 challenging鈥攖here鈥檚 no way you鈥檒l get an A unless you work hard鈥攂ut it makes you feel good in the end.鈥�

Haley now works in the leisure travel industry, as the co-owner of a Cruise Holidays franchise in Halifax. It was an opportunity that came out of the blue, but appealed to her because it allows her to keep practicing her Spanish language skills and stay on top of the Latin American culture and history she learned at Dal.

鈥淚 can give clients a different take on some of their destinations than what they hear or see on the news, or what they may think a place is like鈥攊t鈥檚 not all about beaches,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 really am using my degree. I learned how to balance things, to organize things, and to take on challenges I didn鈥檛 think I could. Doing my degree built up my self-confidence and has allowed me to deal well with the working world.鈥�

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