MA Candidate in Hispanic Linguistics
Department of
Spanish and Portuguese
Biography
Born in Arvada, Colorado, Nick is a current MA student in Hispanic Linguistics and TA in the Spanish as a Heritage Language program. He teaches two sections of Spanish 1210 for heritage learners. Having completed his BA in Linguistics at Metropolitan State University of Denver, he intends to conduct sociolinguistics research the Spanish dialects spoken in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. This academic pursuit is deeply intertwined with his heritage, with ancestry originating from Mora, NM and Salida, CO, where these dialects are still spoken to this day. Despite not being a native Spanish speaker himself, Nick taught himself the language through movies, books, and general communicative language exposure after a study abroad experience in Costa Rica in 2020. His effort and dedication have allowed him to develop a command of Spanish, despite minimal formal education. Outside of university hours, he enjoys participating in combat sports, attending concerts, reading, and writing fictional stories.