From One Major to Three in Four Years: Connecting Data Science, German and Linguistics at �鶹��ý����

March 24, 2026

From One Major to Three in Four Years: Connecting Data Science, German and Linguistics at �鶹��ý��

In a German language program for local children and on an archive translation project, Isabella Zarate Gonzalez shows how �鶹��ý��’s mix of STEM, world languages and community engagement helped her connect her interests into a single path

Posted in: Homepage News and Events, Student News, World Languages and Cultures

"Isabella Zarate Gonzalez, wearing a blue SPARK T-shirt and a green-and-white crochet cardigan, sits at a table holding a worksheet, speaking with an elementary student who is seated around her during a classroom activity." — Isabella Zarate Gonzalez helps children learn German at �鶹��ý��’s SPARK Lab, where college students use stories and crafts to introduce local elementary school students to the language. (Photo by University Photographer Mike Peters)

Triple major Isabella Zarate Gonzalez spends Friday afternoons helping children learn German in �鶹��ý��’s SPARK Lab, an after-school program that brings local elementary students to campus for games, songs and basic conversation.

As an international student from Mexico, she was drawn to �鶹��ý��’s computing program and the chance to build a tech career. After she excelled in a German language course, that success became the first step toward building multiple degrees, as faculty encouraged her to add German, explore linguistics and step into teaching and research roles she had never considered. She even turned her work with children in German into a research project on how programs like the SPARK Lab influence college students’ interest in teaching.

“One of the most important things I’ve learned at �鶹��ý�� is that you don’t have to limit yourself to just one thing,” Zarate Gonzalez says.

"A classroom full of children and college students sit around large tables covered with markers, papers, and art supplies, as kids draw and craft while facilitators circulate and assist with the activities." — At �鶹��ý��’s SPARK Lab, Isabella Zarate Gonzalez collaborates with fellow students to plan German lessons for local schoolchildren as part of a national ‘SPARK for German’ teaching network. (Photo by University Photographer Mike Peters)

Community‑engaged learning that opens doors

The SPARK Lab is a partnership between �鶹��ý�� and nearby schools, giving children early access to world languages while mentoring college students into community‑focused leadership roles. It is part of a national network supported by the . Zarate Gonzalez is among the students who teach German to elementary school children one hour a week for six weeks each semester, including a Meistergruppe for kids who speak German as a heritage language.

"A child wearing a large black top hat and teal hoodie sits on the floor holding an orange lanyard, while another child in a yellow sweater leans nearby." — Children in �鶹��ý��’s SPARK Lab listen to German fairy tales. (Photo by University Photographer Mike Peters)

As part of a multi‑university research project with the University of Tennessee Knoxville, the University of St. Thomas and the University of Chicago, she led data collection and analysis on how SPARK affects college students. She focused on whether experiences like the SPARK Lab encourage students to consider teaching German and what broadly applicable professional skills they gain, surveying �鶹��ý��’s student instructors about their motivations and how teaching had changed their career plans.

The research findings, co‑authored with faculty and collaborators at the four campuses, were and presented at the 2023 American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages conference in Chicago.

"Isabella Zarate Gonzalez leans on a white cubicle wall with arms crossed." — At �鶹��ý��, Isabella Zarate Gonzalez found support to grow a single major into three degrees – Data Science, Language, Business and Culture, and German – plus a minor in Linguistics. (Photo by University Photographer Mike Peters)

Studying abroad with scholarship support

Scholarship support opened the world for Zarate Gonzalez.

Through the �鶹��ý��–Graz Sister City Scholarship, she spent the 2024–25 academic year studying in Graz, Austria. The full scholarship, funded by �鶹��ý��, �鶹��ý��’s Overseas Neighbors and the City of Graz, provides free tuition, room and a small stipend and sends two �鶹��ý�� undergraduates each year to study in �鶹��ý��’s sister city.

�鶹��ý��’s status as a Hispanic‑Serving Institution also helped her win a full scholarship to Middlebury’s prestigious German Language School, a summer immersion program.

“There aren’t a lot of people who can say, ‘This university allowed me to do three bachelor’s degrees, win full scholarships and study abroad in Europe,’” she says.

"Isabella Zarate Gonzalez and Associate Professor Pascale LaFountain, wearing SPARK T-shirts and ID lanyards, confer at the front of a classroom, holding worksheets." — Isabella Zarate Gonzalez talks with Associate Professor Pascale LaFountain in �鶹��ý��’s SPARK Lab. In addition to their work there, Zarate Gonzalez joined LaFountain on a translation project for an archive of Austrian Jewish history. (Photo by University Photographer Mike Peters)

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