Acknowledgements
- Page ID
- 415605
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There are so many individuals to thank. First, thank you to Dean Pegeen Reichert Powell, Provost Paaige Turner, and President Susana Rivera-Mills for your encouragement and support inside and outside of the classroom, and for granting me a sabbatical so that I could write full-time for a semester. Thank you to Aurora University's library director, Sarah Mc-Hone Chase, for your encouragement, guidance, and support when I wrote my first OER, Ahora Entendemos, which made me believe that I could write a second. Thank you to librarian Evangeline Reid for sharing her Libretexts wisdom, and encouragment and support during the creationg of my first OER, Ahora Entendemos, and again when I wrote this one, Ahora Empezamos.
Thank you to my past, present, and future students from whom and with whom I have learned so much. A special thank you to my SPN 3650 Community and Language Immersion students who helped me to create these vocabulary lists. You did great work: Melanie Tobon, Emma Skrgic, Makenna Schaefer, Claudia Ruiz, Elizabeth Ramirez, Edgar Olivan, Fernanda Gudino, Vanessa Garcia, Ajimelec Garcia, Julissa Duran, Melissa Del Valle, Joselyn Contreras, Stacy Bustamante, Cassandra Bergthold, Stephanie Aguilar Geron, and Karla Aguayo. Thank you to graduate student Zachary Yench who agreed to read this product before I published it. Thank you to undergraduate Emily Frazier who graciously served as a sounding board after what works best for students learning Spanish.
Thank you to my work friends: Dr. Brianne DiPasquantonio, Dr. Gerald Butters, Dr. Natasha Ritsma, Dr. Lisa Fredenburgh, and Dr. Mark Woolfington. Thank you to my “sole” sister, Liz Chen, for agreeing to read this, and for so many pep talks over the years. Thank you to my parents who always made education a priority. I still remember buying The Yearling in seventh grade, Mom. And, I also remember why I took Spanish in seventh grade instead of that other language, Dad. Thank you to my amazing family, Esposo Kevin and daughters Angela and Amber and our fur babies Violet Anne Viktoria and Romeo Relámpago for riding along with me on so many crazy journeys, literally and figuratively, sharing my life experiences, and for listening to and encouraging my ideas as they evolve, change, and grow. What should we do next?
I am excited to share Ahora Empezamos with you and see what you think. Here is to book number ten!

