Testimonials

Jessi Hoy
Graduate Student in French

Illinois State University upholds a great reputation for making wonderful teachers. ISU has given me the opportunity to explore my Master’s degree as well as pursue a career in teaching. I am benefiting from their graduate assistant position and will be studying abroad this summer. Overall, I have every chance to pursue what I love about foreign language from an amazingly talented staff.

Joseph Wojowski
Graduate Student in French and Spanish

The other graduate assistants and I have become sort of an international patchwork family over the past semester; it’s just a wonderful environment in which to work.  I look forward to coming into the office everyday, where nothing is ever the same.  And this semester, the students in my introductory language class are just incredible.  Sure we have our ups and downs, but what job, career or class doesn’t? Deciding to come to Illinois State University’s Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures was one of the two best decisions I’ve ever made in my life.  The other was the decision to go to the institution where I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Spanish.  I definitely do not regret it.

Casey Reynolds
Graduate Student in Spanish

The greatest thing about Graduate Studies in the Department of Languages and Literatures at Illinois State University is the welcoming feeling incoming students get from the faculty, staff, and the other graduate students. The professors I have met and worked with are extremely knowledgeable and have made themselves accessible to answer my questions and address my concerns.  The staff has gone out of its way to make sure I am taken care of and help me through the introduction into the university.  The other graduate students, especially those further along in their studies, have offered me great advice on classes and make me look forward to the coming years of my studies in the program.

Jason Fetters
Continuing Lecture of Spanish and Course Coordinator
Purdue University
M.A., Illinois State University, 2005

My time at ISU was an invaluable and life-changing experience.  As an undergraduate, I began studying Spanish for a minor as part of my International Business degree.  After studying abroad at La Universidad Complutense de Madrid in the Spring of 2001, I realized that my love for the language could not end with a minor.  Upon my return from Spain, I found myself adding Spanish as another major in my studies.  Toward the end of my undergraduate career, I was approached by one of my Spanish instructors that I had taken previously over two semesters.  She asked me what my plans were after graduation and encouraged me to continue with Spanish by entering the graduate program.  She informed me of the opportunity to teach as a graduate assistant while taking courses for my Master's in Trans-Atlantic Cultural Studies.  I had no idea I would love teaching until I began my graduate work at ISU.  It was then I knew that I would continue for the sole purpose of getting my Master's Degree to teach Spanish in higher education.  In addition, a graduate study abroad in Taxco, Mexico, in the Summer of 2004 provided me with more invaluable cultural and linguistic experiences.  All of this provided me with a strong foundation as I went into the working world.  I currently work at Purdue University as Continuing Lecturer and Course Coordinator for Spanish 201.  The experiences that I gained while at Illinois State changed my life, and for that I am forever grateful.