Sean McDaniel
When Sean McDaniel graduated from college, he didn’t know what he didn’t know. But a chance to teach English in Spain led him down a path he never could have expected to travel. Learn more about him in this week’s Meet Our Faculty feature.
What is it about foreign languages that initially drew you in—and ultimately keeps you interested?
Honestly, I avoided studying a foreign language when I was an undergraduate, believing it was not really possible for me. Then, after graduating college, I had a chance to teach English in Spain.
Crazy, right?
No language skills, nor apparent aptitude. But I absolutely loved it! This was the late 1980s, in Barcelona. I stayed there for nearly five years before I decided to come back to the US to continue my education. I got master’s degrees in Spanish and history and then the PhD in Spanish.
From not studying any foreign language in college to getting a PhD is perhaps not a recommendable plan, but it is demonstrative of the impact my time in Spain had on me. I was genuinely transformed by that experience, and as a result, I am now dedicated to convincing others that they can experience personal and professional growth through language learning and contact with other cultures.
Why do you enjoy teaching in this discipline?
One of my most satisfying teaching experiences is the moment—toward the end of the semester—when that student who, at the beginning of the semester told me that they just couldn’t learn a language, sheepishly admits they can.
I tell them that my first duty is to convince them that language learning is not only possible in the abstract, but in fact possible for them in particular. In a similar vein, I love showing them all of the incredible experiences—in travel, in living abroad, in experiencing different cultures—that are open to them once they gain a level of fluency. As my students might say, travel “hits differently” when you speak the language.
What advice would you give students about how to succeed in college?
Embrace change and new experiences in college. If you leave college more or less as you entered it, you’ve sort of missed the point. While some cast universities as merely the providers of training for the professions, their traditional purpose is to help form well-rounded and well-informed people who are capable of taking on difficult tasks. Don’t shy away from the new, the unfamiliar, or the unexpected. You’ll come out a stronger, more capable person.
Don’t shy away from genuine effort and work. Take hard classes and do your best. To my mind, a hard-fought-for 3.1 GPA is worth a lot more than a curated 4.0 in which one avoids hard classes to maintain it. Ultimately, success in the academic or professional world will be a lot more like those “hard classes” than the easy ones.
Finally, learn to be an effective writer and an effective and articulate speaker. There is no profession in which those skills aren’t crucial or don’t often lead to being identified as a candidate for promotion and leadership. I only began experiencing any sort of professional success once I improved my communication skills.
Tell us something most of your students may not know about you.
I am super nerdy, with wide interests. I am an amateur radio operator, with the call sign KD5LCH. I am an amateur photographer, which I combine with my travel opportunities. I am an accomplished cook and use time in the kitchen to wind down.