By Mohamed, Rayyan ‘25
Along with incoming freshmen, there are new faculty members at Bellarmine. One new faculty member at Bellarmine is Mr. Daniel Martin. Mr. Martin is in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and teaches Spanish 1 and 2. After developing an interest in languages, he went on to teach Spanish in South Mississippi for two years, an experience which he enjoyed considerably.
Mr. Martin discovered his love for languages in his high school Spanish II class. To Mr. Martin, learning Spanish was not just an academic course, but a life experience. In an exclusive interview, Mr. Martin told the Bellonline that “I have just come to learn to grow and love the Spanish language, live abroad, and have friends who I know in Spanish and just continue to grow every day in the language.”
At Bellarmine, Mr. Martin has so far been enjoying the “camaraderie around campus.” The friendly atmosphere and welcoming faculty proved to be a strong point in coming to Bellarmine. He says that “it’s fun to walk around campus and see people messing around, people playing games, people just being with each other. I know that you guys were not here last year, so it’s cool to be part of that ‘reopening’ as it were.” Mr. Martin adds that the faculty and community here “have been very welcoming to me so far.”
He says that, in the past, “I went to a Jesuit high school and worked with Jesuits in the past, so Jesuit education is something I feel strongly about.” Jesuit education being formative to his education, Mr. Martin came to Bellarmine because he “wanted to be part of a community that is centered around faith.” He adds that he was also “looking to move to California.”
In an exclusive interview with the Bellonline, Mr. Martin elaborates,
“So, I decided to be a teacher for a variety of reasons. I didn’t really want to be a teacher at first but found that I really cared about Spanish. I really care about my own language learning. That’s very personal to me. And so, I decided to give it a shot for two years. I taught in South Mississippi for two years and ended up really enjoying it and finding that the craft of teaching is something that I want to get better at and keep growing at.”
Again, welcome Mr. Martin!
