Beyond Translation: Careers for Language Majors

Wondering where a degree in language can take you? Spoiler alert: way beyond teaching and translation. Join us for a dynamic panel event featuring UCLA alumni and professionals who studied languages and built meaningful, successful careers—both within and beyond language-related fields. Our panelists will share how their studies helped shape their careers through:

• Multilingual communication skills
• Cross-cultural awareness
• Research, writing, and critical thinking
• Adaptability and storytelling

Hear real stories, ask your questions, and get inspired by the possibilities that come from a humanities degree.

Whether you’re just starting to explore your career options or unsure how to leverage your language major, this event will help you see your degree in a whole new light.

To register, go to: Careers for Language Majors

Meet our panelists:

Michelle Li

Soseul Park

Soseul Park is an educator and researcher whose work focuses on multilingual education, diaspora communities, and culturally responsive curriculum development. She is the founder of Korean Mérida, a nonprofit community organization established in 2013 with over 1,900 members, which provides Korean language instruction and cultural programming in transnational contexts.

With over a decade of teaching experience across K-16 and community-based settings in South Korea, Mexico, and the United States, Soseul has taught Korean, Spanish, and English and led the development of the inaugural Korean language curriculum for heritage and diverse learners in Tennessee and Yucatán. She has also served as an interpreter in the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System, a guest lecturer at ENES UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) in Mérida, and currently serves as an advisor to Líderes Jóvenes Descendientes Coreanos en Yucatán.

Soseul is currently a Ph.D. student in Education at UCLA, where her research examines transnational and multiple identities, language revitalization and education, and educational access for Indigenous communities.

Diana Rodriguez

Diana Rodriguez earned her Bachelor’s Degree in French and Francophone Studies from UCLA. Diana’s experience encompasses project management, marketing, customer service, and public administration.

She worked as the Administrative Assistant for the Alliance Française de Los Angeles, overseeing organizational functions, programming, and event planning. She also oversaw marketing efforts including campaign development and execution. Diana currently works as the Administrative Assistant for a PIO and on the weekends, teaches a toddler class at the Alliance Française de Los Angeles.

Samantha Matamoros

 

First generation, daughter of Honduran immigrants, Samantha serves as the Chief People Officer for Green Dot Public Schools.  Green Dot operates 18 schools in Los Angeles county, intentionally serving historically underresourced communities. In her role, Samantha Matamoros oversees the Human Capital Team and has taken on the role of building and managing Green Dot’s Human Resources department.

Samantha joined Green Dot in 2005, serving as a Spanish teacher at Ánimo Venice Charter High School, and continued her work within that community for 10 years as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal, before taking on the role of Director of Human Capital in 2015. Samantha began her career in education as a teacher in the city of Lawndale at Environmental Charter High School. Samantha proudly earned her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in Spanish literature and public policy and her master’s degree from Loyola Marymount University

Ben Fisher-Rodriguez

Ben Fisher-Rodriguez (’12) is a high school German and Spanish teacher located in Seattle, WA. He has presented at national, regional, and local conferences on lesson planning, high-leverage teaching strategies, and issues of LGBTQ+ inclusion in language learning. Ben is a 2022 German Embassy Teacher of Excellence, the WAFLT Teacher of the Year for 2022, the PNCFL Teacher of the Year for 2023, and a 2024 NEA Foundation Teacher of Excellence. He is a co-host of the language teaching podcast “SLAyyy: Second Language Acquisition for Everyone.”