Karlissa Black, BA French (2012), MA Romance Languages French (2014), MA Applied Linguistics (2015)

Through a series of adventures, Karlissa became a middle school French teacher in Houston last year.  She began teaching as a long-term substitute for two middle schools and ended up loving it so much, this past summer, she took the French certification exam and started down the road to getting her alternative teaching license to keep teaching French.  She discovered that French teachers are in truly short supply in the southern regions of Texas and received many offers of employment due to the combination of her Master's in French and the Master's in Applied Linguistics. The added linguistic background gave me a pedagogical edge over other candidates, and she had an interview just the week after passing the content exam.

In addition, her time as a graduate part-time instructor gave her the all-important experience of having taught courses before, allowing her to avoid the pitfalls that many new teachers face (like early burn-out or lack of classroom management strategies).

Learning how to write grants during the applied linguistics degree led her to pursuing volunteer grant writing for nonprofits. She is the volunteer grant coordinator for a wolf hybrid rescue where she lives, taking care of 2 dozen wolfdogs when she's not in the classroom.

“While I miss TTU very much, I couldn't be happier with my current position teaching French to middle schoolers looking to get a head start on their high school language requirements. The children are hilarious, eager to learn, and always full of creative uses of language.”

Gustavo Costa, PhD. Spanish (2020)

Gustavo Costa graduated with a PhD in Spanish from Texas Tech University in August 2020. He is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish at Graceland University, in Iowa. He teaches language and literature classes at this university and he is also the Hispanic Studies Major and Minor Coordinator. A native from Brazil, Gustavo wrote a dissertation titled: "Rio de Janeiro, reflection and image: A Comparative Reading of A Alma Encantadora das Ruas (The Enchanting Soul of the Streets - 1908) by João do Rio and Aguafuertes Cariocas (Etchings from the Port - 2013) by Roberto Arlt in light of reciprocal image of Brazil-Argentina" from where he brings a comparative study between the literature of Brazilian author João do Rio and Argentinian author Roberto Arlt in respect to the city of Rio de Janeiro and its´ society from the beginning of XX century., in a period known as Belle Époque. The dissertation was converted into a book.

Book:

Rio de Janeiro, reflexo e imagem: Uma leitura comparativa de A alma encantadora das ruas de João do Rio e Aguafuertes cariocas de Roberto Arlt

Jeremy Hogan, MA Languages & Cultures-German, 2014

I was hired by Wayland Baptist University as an adjunct professor of German in 2015. The following year, I was hired as the German teacher of Lubbock High School. I have been the department chair of World Language twice during my six years here. In the spring of 2018, I was contacted by the TTU K12 department to be a faculty member for their online German program. I have been employed at all three now since that time. My language skills and resume have also awarded me three grants, and 4 programs through the Goethe Institut and the American Association of Teachers of German.  

Dean Maulidin, MA Languages & Cultures (2019)

Dean is currently living and working in Jakarta, Indonesia. Due to the continued spike in COVID cases, everyone is working from home.  As an instructor in a local language school, e-learning is having a positive impact on learning during extenuating circumstances. “What my team and I do is to provide quality lessons for corporates here in Jakarta, that include designing syllabi based on individual needs and specific purposes.  The time I spent at Texas Tech as been useful for me professionally and it is something I am always grateful for.”

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