reply to each student’s original discussion 

1. Monique

Ciao my name is Monique Gonzalez I am 26 years old and a mother of 3 children. The most interesting thing about myself would probably be that I have built a pc. I was previously attending PCC right out of high school and this is my first semester back since 2017. I am looking to build a career in business data analytics. I hope to get an associates degree in business and build on my tech knowledge. I would like to earn a masters degree at some point as well but I am starting small for now. I have taken a course or two online previously. During the pandemic my oldest daughter was doing online education as well so I have experience navigating that. Unfortunately I do not speak any other language than English. Although I am Mexican myself I was never taught Spanish but I have tried to learn a bit. I decided to take this class because I have had a deep passion for anything Italian related for as long as I can remember. I always told myself I must have been Italian in a past life because there is something about the language and culture that just draws me in and feels so familiar. I have never been to Italy I have only seen pictures and videos but I hope to be able to visit one day. I have told my husband once our children are grown up I want to move to Italy and live there the rest of my life. Some images I associate with Italy would be The Leaning Tower of Pisa and The Grand Canal of Venice. My favorite Italian words would be Forza Azzurri. I love soccer and have always supported the Italian National Team. My son is named Azurine to mean blue which is close to Azzurro which I believe means a sky blue. I hope to be able to learn a lot more about the Italian culture and the beautiful language to get a head start on my dream of living there one day.

2. Philip

Greetings, my name is Philip Hamalian and this is my last semester at PCC before transferring out to another school. I hope to complete a masters degree in History and one day even a PhD, I’d like to become a history professor. I also am very interested in a many other things such as video game technology and am currently trying to learn to use 3D modeling and animation software to try and get a foot in the video game industry as well. I’ve been at PCC since 2018, I got my AA in Kinesiology in 2021 and started working as an EMT until I realized that the medical field in general (while very interesting learning wise) was not for me at all. SO now I’m working on my history degree and trying to build skills on the side. I’ve been fully online since around 2020 and almost all asynchronous with a few zoom classes being the exception. I decided to take this class as I want to learn new languages in general, I learned basic Japanese at PCC and still try to practice it But I want to work at museums of history and Italian history is fascinating to me as Roman/Mediterranean history is my favorite subject and Italy has been the center of my major European events that shaped the future. I have never been to Italy but I really want to go one day visiting especially Rome, Naples, and Genoa. When I think of Italy I always think of a few things, Some immediate images that come to mind are Stone busts of roman emperors and the golden mask of Aurelian. I also think of Catholicism and the great Schism and of The renaissance and its polar opposite “the Enlightenment”. I don’t think I know any Italian words but I know a few Latin words having never studied it. A few phrases I repeat often include: Libera te tutemet ex inferis, and Dictum Factum. Hopefully learning the basics in this class will help me along the path of mastering the language so that I may freely come and go between here and Italy.