At first glance, Nathan is just another kid making his way through UMB like the rest of us. But like most other things at this commuter campus of ours, there is a lot more going on beneath the unassuming exterior. Who do you think put together the 2003/2004 yearbook? It didn’t magically appear on its own! That’s right, it was Nathan, and for the most part he did it by himself. The yearbook work, however, is only where the story begins.

Nathan Crow is the epitome of hard work; he embodies what it means to kick it up a notch, or to do more than what is expected of you. If he was a golfer, he would always play the full 18 holes, and then go back for a couple more; if ever you feel bad for yourself or feel overworked, then you will kick yourself after reading this. Somehow, Nathan manages to take on his yearbook-editing job while simultaneously taking on an 18-credit course load, volunteering at night teaching ESL, and taking care of his 4 year old son on the weekends. Where did he acquire the work ethic needed to stay on top of things? He says it was in the Navy.

After a short stint at Indiana University, Nathan enlisted in the Navy and was stationed for three years in San Diego. When asked of excuses in the service he commented, “There are no excuses in the military.” This is a philosophy that has helped him deal with his hectic work and school schedule. He intended to join the Naval linguistics program in Monterrey, CA, as language is one of his main interests, but was unable to do so. After leaving the Navy, he enrolled at UMB last fall and is pursuing a degree in Spanish.

Spanish and Spanish-American literature is what intrigues Nathan him the most about the major because “it is language and culture in action,” he says. As a goal he is interested in writing in the Spanish language, but he is primarily focused on teaching Spanish as a career. He has been to Mexico and Spain, and says that his next destination is Argentina, where if everything goes according to plan, he will spend the next semester at the University of Velgrano, located in a district of Buenos Aires.

As mentioned, Nathan is currently a volunteer ESL teacher at an advocacy organization for Spanish-speaking immigrants called Central Presente, located in Cambridge, but with a nationwide presence. For the most part he is not teaching Spanish, but has to speak in Spanish, as the class is for beginner-level speakers with little or no grasp of English. The job has been demanding and challenging as he has had to create a curriculum and lesson plans from scratch. Teaching the class, he says has helped him build an awareness of non-English speakers’ problems with learning a new language, and in turn will greatly help him in his goal teaching Spanish to non-native Spanish speakers.

So all you UMB students out there, and anyone else tuning in, heed the words of Nathan Crow, “Do your work, go to class, and stay organized.” It’s worked for him, and it could work for you.