Brian Straight. B.A. 99 (Spanish major)
“My Spanish degree, plus working as a Peace Corps Volunteer in El Salvador, set me up later to pursue an MA in Latin American Studies, then join the US Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer. I’ve now served in Colombia, Mexico, and currently Brazil, where learning Portuguese was a snap after my Mary Washington Spanish background. But the broader liberal arts education I got at Mary Wash prepared me for plenty of other adventures and challenges: I’ve also worked in China, Iraq, and Uganda, but was not out of my depths. Mary Washington helped make me a flexible and well-rounded person, and it all began in the Spanish program.”