Sophomore Bruno Rocha is a manager here at the Culpeper Language Learning Center with big aspirations for his future. A Psychology major looking to go pre-med, he believes that this major will enable him to find unique ways to help people.
Originally from Cancún, Mexico, Bruno is fluent in Spanish and he stated that culture has a big impact on his life, “Culture is a very big thing in my life. I get to see my culture and the country I live in shape the way I am…I have been americanized since some of my values have changed, but most have stayed the same.”
Bruno loves how his work at Culpeper incorporates both culture and technology to promote learning of a foreign language, but there’s only one aspect about his position that he loves more. “The best part of working here is the people,” Bruno said. As a manager, Bruno also stated how rewarding this position is: “You get to see students starting as first years working on a language and you get to see them go up from there.” He stated that there weren’t too many difficulties to this job, but memorizing all the different keyboard commands can be a little overwhelming.
In his free time, Bruno likes to hang out with friends, draw, and watch Netflix. He also knows a little bit of French and Italian, so it is clear just how important language and culture is in Bruno’s life. As the manager of the Service and Outreach Team, Bruno and his team are working to bring a unique program to Gustavus known as the Virtual Language Exchange Program. This program, which would allow students to communicate with individuals from other countries via Skype, will certainly be noteworthy.
“It’s fun to interact with different people and to learn about different cultures here, which are the goals of Culpeper,” Bruno said. Bruno embraces diversity and enjoys helping others, which definitely will take him far in life. Not to mention his love of language that will help him in his profession. His hard work, generosity, and determination certainly will pay off when he graduates from Gustavus Adolphus College.