Help Me Bring Puerto Rican Culture to the Classroom

Alexandra Keniston Start Date: Mar 30, 2022 - End Date: Sep 29, 2022
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Study/Degree Abroad
  • Puerto Rico

My Travel Story

by: Alexandra Keniston Start Date: Mar 30, 2022 - End Date: Sep 29, 2022
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Study/Degree Abroad
As a student, you always want to figure out how the next thing in your life will come together. As a student who is learning to become a theatre educator, you start to wonder about the different experiences you can have and how that will impact your teaching. Ever since I figured out what I wanted to do, I started exploring how to make my classroom more inclusive. One of the ways I can do that is to educate myself in as many cultures, languages and communities. Learning is something I always enjoyed and this experience will help further my spanish language skills and to embrace the culture and community.
Studying Abroad is something I’ve always wanted to do; I love learning about new cultures. When I was younger, I was curious about where my family was from so when my mom told me that I was a quarter Puerto Rican, it sparked my interest. I wanted to learn more about my family’s heritage as well as bring it to other people. Over the last few years I’ve started to learn Spanish and explore Puerto Rican culture.
When I first transferred into Bridgewater, I wasn’t aware of all the study abroad options. Finding out I could study in Puerto Rico was amazing, because this could help not only my personal goals but my academic and career goals as well. Ever since becoming an education major, I’ve wanted to be able to bring different cultures together in the classroom. One of the things I would like to bring into the classroom is languages. If you force people to speak a new language, they can very easily become depressed because they lose a piece of their identity. So, when you become bilingual it helps your students. This allows them to speak or present in their home language if they choose to. Puerto Rico also has a rich theatre and art scene that would help me be able to further teach the culture. Learning about new ideas that could be brought into the classroom is something I wouldn’t have been able to previously.
  • Puerto Rico