Hello, I'm a Freshman in college(at UGA, go dawgs, boo war eagles) and I know I have time to decide but I have the personality that I want to know now and I don't want to waiste valuable years in my undergrad schooling deciding on majors. My current major is spanish, which I love so much! I do plan on adding another major but I also plan on keeping spanish as a double major. I want to be a professor and I know I don't want to teach younger kids, professor or not at all. Hence, I have to get my Ph.D. I'm ready! I know they say some jobs get old, does teaching? I want to teach for a while but have other options too. I love to travel, I'm a people person, and I love languages, I also like to lead/direct. Have any double major useful suggestions or any advice otherwise about being a professor. I thought I'd ask the education people out there cause it has been weighing on my mind. If you can help I'd love it!

I'm combining a spanish degree with a speech science degree (im a senior), and hopefully next year will be attending a grad school studying bilingual speech language pathology. Theres a large need for bilingual speech paths in school districts across the country. so if thats something your interested in definitely look into it.
www.bilingualtherapies.com
www.asha.org
As far as teaching, getting a PhD. Thats something I really strongly considered doing (if you do a search you could probably pull up those old posts and see what people had to say).
In the end I decided it wasnt for me because I want to be in a clinical or school setting and really want to work with people, social service aspects and helping them overcome things.
Also, once you get into more upper level classes, see if your university will actually let you enroll in some graduate level classes. I'm taking 2 graduate classes this year as a senior, and its only reconfirming my decision that a PhD was not the best fit for me. I enjoy the classes and am learning a ton, but i've also discovered that its the spanish language and CULTURAL aspects of the that language community that I love...not spending my entire life studying the linguistic details of it all (example: my grad class on history of the spanish language: we have spent weeks looking at one specific morpheme in spanish and how it originated from latin, where its used and why, evolution of latin into spanish etc... interesting? yes. Do I want to spend my entire life studying such things? No.)
Burn out? I think thats something that can happen in any profession you choose. The nice thing about dual degree, is you can always fall back on the 2nd one for a career change if you want to later in life.

You are a freshmen, youv got tons of time to figure it out so try lots of things, go observe places, talk to people, get an internship, you will figure it out in the end.

Kelly

Thanks for the advice, it is awesome. I definitely have been talking to people, the internship is on my list of things to do. I see what you are saying and I thought of that because being a spanish teacher you are teaching either literature in spanish or grammar which honestly Im not in love with either, but I love learning it talking to people and the culture. I want to get a Ph.D. definitely because I provides more possibilities and I want to teach in Spain for a while and think I would have a better chance if I have my Ph.D., thanks again for the advice.

The problem is that you have to get a masters before the PhD... and the large majority of masters programs (at least in my experience), require you to specialize in either linguistics or literature. There really isnt a "general" spanish MA degree. Same goes for the PhD, you are generally researching a topic, in one of those categories, and then go on to work as a professor continuing to research in that area, and teach classs on the side. At least thats how it works at my university and many of the others i looked at. Just some thoughts.

Maybe I could shed some light on this topic...since I am a professor and have a Ph.D... in XIX and XX century Spanish (penisula) literature. There is no such thing as a "general" field. You must get, as mentioned in an earlier post, a degree in a specialty or two (this depends on the University grad program). You must also get a secondary field of study, outside your field. In my case, it's Italian Literature.

Can you teach with a Ph.D. in Spain? No. First, why would they hire an American to teach there? Second, Spain (and most of Europe) has a system of competitions that determine whether or not you can get a position and where you can teach. Third, you're not a citizen of Spain nor of any of the European Common Market countries.

Professors do not teach on the side. We do, both, teaching and research. True, our vocation and love is more to the area of research...but teaching is our livelihood. We're not trained in educational matters...which may explain why so many professors aren't really good at teaching...but we enjoy sharing our passion for our discipline.

The process, also, is incredibly long. You might be interested in knowing that, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, the average age for a Ph.D. in Spanish is 34...that's a long time without any reasonable income and being nagged by your family and friends as to "when will you finish school?" How old was I when I got my Ph.D? Right on the button...34.

Sheryl

Sheryl brings up another important thing that I thought long and hard about... the length of time it takes! I'm a senior and will be starting a 2 year graduate program in bilingual slp next fall and let me tell you... even that seems like a LONG time There is one university that I know of, NYU, that does have a MA program in spanish that is designed to be completed in summers, that is culture based. Its designed for professionals in other fields (for example bilingual speech pathology, international relations, etc), for whom a 2nd MA degree in spanish would be helpful...something im considering for the future. It is NOT for those wanting to go on to a PhD though!!!!

and as far as the teaching on the side comment... probably depends on the university you are at... I am at a VERY large public research university, and out of my entire undergraduate degree, I had only 1 prof (who really did not seem to care for teaching AT ALL), the rest were TAs (grad students, most of whom were from spanish speaking countries and wonderful!). This year, taking classes with the grad students though, I will say that for the first time, I have faculty members teaching my classes, and they actually seem to want to help and enjoy teaching... its very refreshing! but i think sad that most undergrads wont experience that, only grad students and the few crazy undergrads like me:)

....By the way, did I mention how important it is to study abroad? jaja had to get that plug in there!

kelly

Well I know there are ways to teach in Spain I have been doing study abroad research and see stuff all the time about teaching or working abroad. It may very well be cercumstancial and for short times only. I dont' have the specifics I would have to look in to it, I know if anything though they would want me to teach english. Very true why would they want me to teach spanish when they can do it better. I know getting a Ph.D. takes an extremely dedicated worth ethic and lots of motivation. I love to research but the time it would take off my life is something that does make me think twice. Thanks you so much for your input I love to hear people who have actually been through it, I didnt' know it was 34. Do you think it was worth it? I know the ratio of years lost to money you would have earned is on the down hill side, you're better off getting a masters and stopping there. Dont get a Ph.D. for the money I have heard that. There are research professors and nonresearch professors though too right? ... Let me post a question.