Kathi Schirm:  

*Most of my peers know I was crazy about Spanish. I chose Central College in Pella, Iowa because it had one of the top 10 foreign language departments in the country, and it was close to home. I graduated with a B.A. (Major in Spanish; Minor in Anthropology/Socialogy). To get my spanish major credits, I attended Central's abroad study programs in Yucatan, Mexico, and both Madrid and Granada, Spain (where I experienced bomb threats on the university, street protests lead by young adults very against Spain becoming part of NATO, as well as close encounters of the scarey kind with the machine gun toting Spanish Guardia Civil). *My plans of a post-graduation happily ever after with my Yucatecan finance died a slow death beginning with the severe economic problems in Mexico, you got it, right before I graduated. I coudn't get paid in dollars and the loan offices actually laughed at being paid in pesos. So,create a plan B: * I decided Houston, Texas would be the perfect place to use my Spanish, and keep warm at the same time, not to mention it was closer to Mexico and my fiance. Unfortunately, all my dream jobs were absorbed already by the people who lost jobs after the early 80's oil crunch. Since my college student loans wouldn't go away as much as I wished them away, I had to create a plan C : *Naturally, I decided to become a nanny/ au pair in New York's Long Island where I received room, board and a paycheck and was able to pay off ...Expand for more