2022
Alina Buga awarded the NUI Dr H H Stewart Literary Scholarship in Spanish 2021
Ms Alina Buga studies Commerce International with Spanish at UCC
At the department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies, UCC, we are delighted that one of our students was awarded such a prestigious scholarship. We chatted to Alina and asked her about her time at UCC, Multilingualism and her thoughts on this award:
What does this award mean to you? Will it motivate you to continue studying Spanish at this excellent level?
I had no idea what to expect from my time at University College Cork when I decided to study Commerce International with Spanish in Ireland, yet here I am, sharing my thoughts on receiving a language-related scholarship that means so much more to me than just a reward for good grades. Winning the Third Prize in the NUI Dr H H Stewart Literary Scholarship in Spanish 2021 was a great honor not just because I did well academically, but also because it demonstrated that anything is possible for a Moldovan girl who has decided to study abroad for a better future.
How was your experience at @uccsplas so far?
My first year in Spanish, as well as my second, were both fantastic. Not only was I excited to learn a new language, but it also made me feel comfortable in the classroom, and not just the Spanish one. It taught me that it is okay to have an accent or to be unable to express myself as well as I could in my native language. I have to admit that because English is not my first language, I was both excited and terrified to be doing all of my studies in a language other than my native, but it all worked out in the end, even better than I had expected.
I’d love to take this opportunity to thank my two incredible Spanish teachers, Dr Maria Dolores Mondejar Fuster and Dr Pedro Nilsson-Fernàndez, for their extraordinary ability to explain, their passion to teach Spanish, and encourage us all to learn this beautiful language. These are just a few of the qualities that made them my favorite college professors.
In your opinion, what are the benefits of multilingualism for your future career?
Speaking a little bit about myself, as you can see, I am incredibly passionate about languages and it is no coincidence that I am so fond of them. Being born in a former Soviet Union country, the Republic of Moldova, I grew up surrounded by two languages: Romanian and Russian. Later in school, I discovered my interest in English and Ukrainian, both of which I self-taught. I knew from a young age that I wanted to work in a field that involved languages, cultures, and people. This is one of the reasons I picked a language-related degree. Currently, I am fluent in Romanian, English, Russian, and Ukrainian. In college, I am also studying both Spanish and Portuguese, which I hope to call myself fluent in within the next few years.
Being multilingual is my greatest achievement and I know that it holds the key to my successful future career in an international organization. It is one of the most valuable skills many employers seek, especially in global companies. I truly believe that multilingualism may turn out to be just as powerful for business in the 21st century as technology was in the 20th, making language skills a key differentiator among applicants for most jobs. Thus, my personal 'linguistic' goal has always been to master 10 languages by the age of 25, and the Stewart award has inspired me to push even harder toward that objective.