When Natalia Fagundez sets out to learn something new, she doesn’t dip her toes in the shallow end. It’s full immersion for this honors student whose passion for special education advocacy has guided her academics, extracurricular experiences, research efforts, and the impact she’s making in her very first classroom.
Building Language Bridges
It all started with an interest in languages. Her parents immigrated from Uruguay to Miami, Florida before they settled in Holly Springs, North Carolina.
“I grew up in a bilingual household and always noticed the differences in communication with those who have accents and those who don’t. Since I’m very white passing, any sort of discrimination I encountered came from my language.”
In high school, she volunteered with children with disabilities and learned more about non-verbal communication. Her interest in American Sign Language (ASL) expanded beyond a tool for speaking with the deaf as she used signs and non-verbal cues to bridge language barriers for special-needs children or those learning English.
As she began to explore colleges, Fagundez narrowed her selections to schools with exceptional special education programs, moving UNC Greensboro to the top of her list. The stars aligned for her once she learned she could minor in ASL and deepen her education with study abroad and disciplinary honors research at Lloyd International Honors College (LIHC).
Scholarships like NC Teaching Fellows and the service-based Reynolds Scholarship could help with tuition, but the community she found at UNCG sealed her decision: “I knew I would be able to celebrate my culture and learn more about myself with people who can relate to me. Diversity is celebrated here, and it’s something that I was looking for.”
Immersed in Inspiration
LIHC not only gave Fagundez the academic challenge she was looking for, it connected her with study abroad, research opportunities and internships, and it introduced her to “a community of scholars.”
“We’re all on the same wavelength, but we’re inspired by different things,” she explains. “I’m the only special education major in my cohort, but I’ve met biology, computer science, and physics students, and like me, they’re all passionate about making positive changes in the world.”
In her first year at LIHC, she shared a room in the residential college with Jia Emaus, who is still her roommate today. Faculty encouraged experiences that deepened her passion for language and carved a curriculum that explored subjects like anthropology and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies as they relate to education. Perhaps the most impactful part about being an honors student was the semester she spent in Spain during her second year.
“I know many students say this about studying abroad, but it was probably the best time of my life,” she says. “I lived with a host family and the whole five months was just a joy. In Spanish classes, I was improving my language skills, but I was also just immersing myself in a different culture. It was beautiful.”
Altogether, the opportunities she found at LIHC made her a great ambassador for the honors college. In the role, she gives tours to prospective honors college students and creates social media content about “life at Lloyd.”
A Servant Scholar
Fagundez came home from Spain with a renewed commitment to her special education major and minors in Spanish and ASL. She resumed volunteer work with special-needs students as a tutor for Integrated Community Studies (formerly Beyond Academics), a UNCG program for students with intellectual disabilities who want to further their education and gain skills for independent living.
“Greensboro has given me so much love and opportunity, so giving back is important to me,” she says. “I am a big helper. That’s why I’m into education. I love meeting people and helping.”
As a volunteer for Campus Greensboro, she was a job coach for a woman on the autism spectrum who worked in the kitchen of a local brewery. There, Fagundez crossed paths with Dr. Debra Holzberg, a special education faculty member who was developing an assessment to help Beyond Academics students request accommodations they needed in the workplace. Holzberg’s work introduced Fagundez to research and how it can affect policy change for those who can’t speak for themselves.
“I’ve never had a professor feel so strongly about helping me reach my goals,” Fegundez says.
Student-teaching experiences in Guilford County Schools also broadened her thirst to make an impact. A placement at Jones Elementary, a local Spanish-immersion school, proved particularly poignant as she settled on an interdisciplinary honors research project focusing on the prevalence of multilingual learners in special education classes. Jones teaches both English and Spanish, so it was the perfect place to build data on how students are tested for special education classes and how accurate those results are.
“Jones was a great example of teaching in two languages where both are valued and testing students’ abilities in both languages,” Fagundez explains. “I think schools need to make sure that native languages are preserved and valued so that kids can feel comfortable expressing themselves in both languages.”
“Natalia selected a research topic that is highly relevant to special education and the field of education overall,” advisor Dr. Julie Bost says. “It is essential that educational professionals utilize non-biased assessment practices to help avoid overrepresentation of multi-lingual learners in their special education referrals.”
Ms. Fagundez’s Classroom
Just as Fagundez was wrapping her research project in her fourth year and making plans to further her education with graduate school, a most unexpected opportunity fell into her lap thanks to connections at UNCG. Her advisor Dr. Bost heard that Guilford Elementary was looking for a long-term substitute teacher for one of its exceptional children’s classes. The position would give Fagundez her own special-education classroom and a full-time position in her chosen field before she graduates!
“I interviewed for the position and got the job,” Fagundez beams. “Every day is so different, and every student is different, but I love catering to kids with disabilities. And I love seeing their faces light up when they know that I care. They have taught me so much!”
Although Guilford Elementary would like to keep her next fall and she plans to continue her education with graduate school, Spain is calling, and she can’t wait to go back. She’s accepted a position as a language assistant in an English classroom in Andalusia, the southernmost region of Spain.
“Grad school is 100% in the cards, I plan to use this gap year to narrow my options and degree interests,” Fagundez says. “I will definitely pursue special education but have considered sub areas such as disability law and policymaking, parental advocacy, and autism-spectrum studies.”
But before applying to graduate school, Fagundez wants to immerse herself in a new culture once again. This time, she says she’ll do so to learn about their educational systems “and bring that knowledge back to the states and into my future classroom.”
Story by Becky Deakins and Rachel Damiani.
Photography and video by Sean Norona.
