Meeting Mrs. Zoller: Adventures in Spain & Ecuador

As first quarter nears to an end, students and teachers have gotten used to their daily routines. Yet there are still many unrecognizable faces among the teachers. A new addition to our school is Mrs. Zoller- known as Señora Zoller to her Spanish students. I met with Señora Zoller to question her about her experiences with the Spanish culture and teaching.

Q: Are you originally from Arizona?

A: No I’m not. I’m from New Jersey, originally that’s where I grew up. My husband was born in Arizona. We decided to move out here last year because we have family here and we had a baby girl.

Q: What university did you attend?

A: I went to the University of Mary Washington for my undergraduate degree, and then I went to Simmons College in Boston for my masters in teaching.

Q: What inspired you to become a teacher?

A: I had some really great teachers going through high school, and one in particular was a Spanish teacher who really made me feel like everyday was a gift – there was something that I’d never heard or learned before. My first year in Spanish I actually got a D and didn’t want to continue at all, and then I had her the next year and realized how passionate it is to learn about another language and culture.

Q: Have you been to a Spanish speaking country?

A: Yes. I did a couple of studying abroad trips. I first lived in Quito, Ecuador for six months and got to travel around the region, which was great. Then I lived in Spain for about a month with a family and then I went back a year later.

Q: What was it like there?

A: While in Spain I was a high school senior. I wasn’t taking classes over the summer, and what I found interesting over there with the students of the family I was staying with was that they continued to take classes to prepare them for their national exams. I’d spend a couple hours by myself, but then I’d go over to the grandparents’ house everyday for lunch and they’d make me different Spanish dishes.  We would have family meals together around two o’clock in the afternoon. It was fun; we did a lot of sightseeing when I was in Barcelona where I got to explore the city and really just got to be more passionate about why I was learning the language. But Ecuador-my soul still lives in Ecuador. I hope I can go back. There I was taking Spanish classes for seven hours a day, and I had a different professor every week.  But the school had a lot of foreign students.  I was mostly alone in classes, so my professors and I would go to market places where they would teach me recipes. A couple of times I went over to their homes where we would cook, and I kind of just got to dig in deeper into what it’s like to live there. Something I would definitely recommend to anyone is studying abroad, getting your feet wet, and learning about our own country from another perspective.

As our interview ended, I thanked Señora Zoller for the wonderful stories and her adventures in Spain and Ecuador. With her cheerful personality, Señora Zoller is undoubtably going to make history at ACP.