Hispanic Studies’ October 2022 Student Focus: Mr. Max Moore

Hispanic Studies’ Student Focus for October 2022 is Mr. Max Moore.

On a hot August day I went to welcome residents into the Casa Hispana—Hispanic Studies’ living and learning community, located on Bull Street in downtown Charleston. Striding up to the house I spied a student and his father toting belongings up the front steps speaking…German?! “What sort of confusion is this?” I thought. No confusion, it turned out. Just Max Moore, a major in Spanish, Foreign Language Education –and, yes, German—moving in.

Looking at his list of accomplishments and activities, it doesn’t take long to see that Max is the sort of individual that the School of Languages, Cultures and World Affairs so highly values and cultivates—i.e., someone whose interests range far and wide, crossing borders and making connections.

Within Hispanic Studies, Mr. Moore has distinguished himself as member and Treasurer of the Spanish Club, a resident of the Casa Hispana and an alumnus of the department’s longstanding program in Trujillo, Spain. Beyond this, he forms a part of the German Club, serves as a German tutor with the Center for Student Learning and plans to head abroad, once again, when he travels to study at the University of Bamberg during spring of 2023.

In his own words…

“I started learning Spanish in middle school and fell in love with learning languages. I had always been fascinated with other cultures and places in the world and how we as humans developed into these vastly different societies, so when I was taking my Spanish and German classes in middle and high school, I was inspired by my former teachers to become a German/Spanish teacher. I had had more experience when it came to speaking German and had always felt that my Spanish was sub-par and was shy to even speak until I enrolled at the College of Charleston and met the fantastic Hispanic Studies Department staff and other students who are studying Spanish. The professors at the college are some of the most passionate, encouraging, and caring people I have met since I started college. I don’t think I would have learned or experienced half of what I have were it not for the amazing staff members. Because of these relationships the staff has built with us, I took a greater part in the Hispanic Studies activities such as the Spanish Club with their tertulia and various other events, my study abroad in Trujillo where I met amazing people and gained a valuable life experience that I will never forget, or being a resident at la Casa Hispana on campus where I live with other students studying Spanish.

I feel as though I am now better equipped and more confident when it comes to interacting with other people, whatever language that may be in, because of my experience in the Hispanic Studies department. For me studying Spanish is more than just learning about grammar or culture but learning to understand others. The world doesn’t appear as big as we sometimes like to think it is and I feel as though learning a different language allows me to see things from a different perspective that I would not have noticed otherwise. This feeling has been exemplified here at the College of Charleston through the wonderful Hispanic Studies staff and students. Studying Spanish has given me many opportunities that I am fortunate to have, but they don’t amount to anything without the experiences I have had or the relationships I have founded during my stead at the College of Charleston.”