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You had me at hola

A high school trip to Cuba and some Latin dancing classes were all it took for Meredith Hand to fall in love with Spanish. It鈥檚 a love affair that has informed her life since.

She was 15 when her Bedford, N.S. high school band went on a musical exchange trip to Cuba. It was Meredith鈥檚 first real exposure to Spanish and she was blown away by the beauty of the language.

Since her high school didn鈥檛 offer any Spanish courses, she got involved in the small but vibrant Latin dancing community in Halifax.

鈥淚 like dancing, but it was mainly to learn Spanish鈥攖o learn how to count and say 鈥榣eft鈥� and 鈥榬ight,鈥� 鈥� she says. 鈥淚t was a great way for me to have fun and learn a bit of Spanish at the same time.鈥�

Meredith鈥檚 initial plan for university was to do a degree in International Development Studies (IDS) and study Spanish on the side. But as she took more Spanish courses, she realized language was her passion and switched to a combined honours in Spanish and Linguistics.

Overseas adventures

A semester spent in Salamanca, Spain in her third year at Dal reinforced her decision. She immediately fell in love with the country and knew she wanted to return to keep working on her language skills.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know what I was doing after my undergrad, so I decided to apply for a job in Madrid as a teaching assistant for the school board,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey work in the classroom as examples of their native forms of English and native culture鈥攚hether they鈥檙e from Canada, the U.K., Australia, or wherever.鈥�

After three years back home working in recruitment for Dal she returned to Spain to do a one-year MA in Translation, Cultural Mediation, and Interpretation at the Universidad de M谩laga. At the same time, she was hired as the director of recruitment for an English teaching assistant program in Madrid. When she started, there were 30 native English-speaking assistants in the program; by the time she left two years later, there were 250.

鈥淭he vast majority of people working in similar programs in Spain are Americans,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut over half in this Madrid Catholic School Board鈥檚 BEDA Program are Canadians. And the cool thing is that about a quarter of the people have some connection to Dal. Before I started in the job, they were mostly British. I鈥檓 so proud there鈥檚 such great representation of Canada and Maritimes culture.鈥�

Pursuing a passion

After finishing her MA, Meredith moved to Madrid to do an MBA in Sports Management run by the legendary soccer club, Real Madrid, at the Universidad Europea de Madrid.

鈥淚 had developed my Spanish, and while I loved translation I wanted to use the translation, interpretation, and cultural mediation in an international business environment,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd what better area than sports? It鈥檚 such an international industry and you鈥檙e dealing with people from different backgrounds all over the world.鈥�

The uncertain economic climate in Europe when she finished her MBA led Meredith back home to Halifax where she now works as the sales manager at the , focusing mainly on corporate sales.

She鈥檚 happy to be home, but the Spanish flag sticker on the back of her purple Vespa is proof that part of her heart is still in Spain. And she has her undergrad years to thank for that.

鈥淗onestly, coming to Dal was one of the best decisions I鈥檝e ever made,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he reason I am where I am now is because of Dal. I would never have gone to Salamanca and met the people I did if I hadn鈥檛 come to Dal. My life would be very different鈥擨 can鈥檛 even imagine it. I鈥檒l always be grateful to Dal for that, and specifically the Spanish department.鈥�

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