MONTICELLO — Gabriela Atan has a smile that could light up Buenos Aires. And for almost a year, she didn’t stop smiling. Atan arrived in Monticello as a Fulbright Scholar in 2006 where she joined the faculty at UAM and joined the parish family at St. Mark Church.
“Things are very different here in the United States than they are at home in South America,” she explained. “For example, at the university in Argentina, there are no elective courses. Students must study all the subjects in the curriculum for the career they have chosen.”
Her decision to apply for a Fulbright scholarship came after teaching English for 11 years.
“I found it out on the Internet and in the magazine of the teacher training college where I studied,” she explained.
At UAM, Atan’s application as a teaching assistant with the Fulbright program crossed the desk of Mark Spencer, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities.
“We applied for two Spanish Fulbright TAs, and her application to the Fulbright program was sent to us along with several other applications. Isabel Bacon (a Spanish instructor) and I identified her as a top pick and made her an offer,” he said. “We were looking for someone with a graduate degree and teaching experience and fluency in English.”
Not only did she fulfill her promise in the classroom, but she has paved the way for other Spanish-speaking Fulbright Scholars to come to Monticello. Spencer spoke highly of her professionalism and charisma.
“Bringing well-educated, highly intelligent native speakers to campus is the next best thing to Study Abroad. Of course, the presence of our TAs allows us to offer more Spanish classes than we have in the past. Gabriela has been a wonderful asset to the Spanish program this year. She’s a dedicated and enthusiastic teacher. Students adore her.”
Atan’s undergraduate degree is in commerce and administration. She then earned an advanced degree in teaching English. She decided to become an ESL teacher after earning her bachelor’s degree so she spent the next five years in an English teacher training course, beginning in 1998, and graduated as a teacher of English in 2003.
In order to keep up to date with the latest foreign language teaching methods and techniques, she regularly attends specialized courses and seminars.
Teaching wasn’t her only focus while in Monticello. She assisted local high school teachers in preparing material for their foreign language classes and spent time in area schools, speaking with students about the Argentine culture and traditions.
She provided an important community service by serving as a translator for non-English speaking Hispanic residents of the area.
Since arriving in the U.S., she stays in regular touch with family members by e-mail and telephone. Only 30 years old, she has packed a lot of education and travel into her life.
“I traveled in South America, mainly traveled in Argentina, and I also visited Uruguay and Brazil. Before coming to Monticello, I went to New York City for a Fulbright workshop.”
Over Christmas break in 2006, Atan headed West to see some of the tourist sites popular with travelers all over the world.
“I went to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and the Great Canyon. I wanted to visit those places because I have heard so much about them that I really wanted to travel there,” she said.
Her travels will provide some lively background for her English students this fall when she returns to the classroom in Buenos Aires. She has delivered presentations on how to teach English and Spanish in Argentina and in the United States, respectively.
“I am planning to go back to Argentina and share this experience with my students. I will keep on attending courses and seminars as I always do in order to keep up to date.”