Atticus Nguyen (286) & Vincent Sun (286)
Just last year, the sudden disappearance of Señor Julien left many students—including his former students in Class 288—troubled that their funny, charismatic teacher would be missing for the entire year. As it turns out, Señor Julien had been trading the classroom for long hikes, astounding views, and valuable lessons with his wife and his two children. His trip spanned the continent of Europe, streaking through the Netherlands, Italy, Slovakia, Portugal, Austria, and numerous beaches near Granada, Spain, the city where he resided.
With Señor Julien being a Spanish teacher, it’s no surprise that Spain was one of his countries of choice for a year-long sabbatical. Both having studied in Spain, Señor Julien and his wife had already planned to make their return. However, they weren’t going to be the students. Their two children would be getting the opportunity to explore everything Spain had to offer, while learning the diversity of the Spanish language in the process.
During their time, Señor Julien and his family embarked on numerous adventures—almost too many to count—in the Spanish countryside. One of the memorable experiences he described to us was his six-day hike on the Camino de Santiago, a centuries-old pilgrimage route across Spain. The trek stretches through hundreds of small towns, mountains, farmland, and villages, giving him and his family a close-up of the historic rural Spain.
The adage holds: you learn something new every day, and Señor Julien’s sabbatical reminded him of just that. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to believe that Señor Julien is already familiar with the ins and outs of Spanish due to his academic background. However, when speaking to people in southern Spain, he noticed that they spoke faster, with various syllables and sounds being dropped, as well as a different vocabulary—something he was not accustomed to. “It was definitely a learning experience,” Señor Julien brought up, truly reflecting the notion that there’s always more to learn, even when you’ve already mastered the language.
While Señor Julien was navigating the mountains of Spain, Central High School was navigating a challenge of its own: finding a way to cover his classes. As a result, the Spanish Department hired a substitute teacher to cover the Spanish 1 class that Señor Julien previously was teaching. The addition of a new substitute teacher definitely presented a hurdle to learning Spanish, given the cumulative nature of language courses. Unfortunately, it caused the fundamentals of Spanish to not be as refined as they should be. “It will have a ripple effect,” Ms. Rodriguez stated when asked about Señor Julien’s absence. IB Spanish student Bilal Bouich (286), who took Ms. Rodruigeuz’s class last year, noted how she multitasked, managing both her IB Class and supporting the substitute teacher in the Spanish 1 class. “I remember last year, sometimes Ms. Rodriguez would notify us that she had to help out the other classes for a while,” recalled Bilal.
Of course, everything great must come to an end, and if you’ve seen him around the halls, you’d know that Señor Julien has returned to the classroom, ready to teach some more Spanish! This year, he teaches Spanish 2 Honors & AP Spanish. From six-day hikes through the Camino de Santiago to routes along Northwestern Spain, one would think that there would be difficulty in transitioning back to the sedentary nature of the classroom, but this was not the case for Señor Julien. Rather, “It’s kind of like I never left. It was a seamless transition,” he explained. Despite the logistical challenges caused by his absence, Señor Julien’s return has brought back a familiar energy to Central, and certainly back to the Spanish classrooms. Armed with a fresh perspective from his travels in Europe and Spain, Central’s beloved Spanish teacher is back and more ready than ever to start the year strong!
