On a bright sunny Tuesday, the front lawn of Grainger Hall hosted a gathering of students and faculty for a tasty and informal picnic.
The “Taste the Majors” is an annual event hosted by the department of English and modern languages, where students have the opportunity to enjoy a delicious snack while getting to know fellow students in their majors and speaking with the faculty.
The event, which initially started as an ice cream social years ago, featured food representing the cultures and languages that are taught in the department. Those in attendance were able to feast on assorted tea sandwiches, cream puffs, churros, German spiced cookies and skewered Kielbasa sausage paired with cheese, representing the languages of English, French, Spanish and German respectively.
Chair of the department and professor of French, Dr. Wade Edwards was excited to see students and faculty enjoying the event. He hoped it would not only serve as a starting point for freshmen in the major and small reunion for upperclassmen but also an event that would attract new students.
“Maybe they [students] had English 150 or they were in their Goal 3 class or their foreign language requirement and they thought ‘Well, maybe this can be my major,’ and so we wanted to get them outside the classroom too, just to see others like them, so they can meet friends and maybe join the department," commented Wade.
This certainly worked as several students in attendance were considering a modern language as a major or minor. Freshman Cody Bell explained he came because he had been thinking about minoring in Spanish). Diego Gonzalez, another freshman in attendance, stated that since he already knows Spanish, he has been considering majoring or minoring it. While the two weren’t sure of whether to major in a foreign language, they were certain about one thing: the churros were their best snack from the event.