STORY BY GRACE MAEDA
ILLUSTRATION BY EMILY YEN
Falling in love is not hard to do when it’s with the most beautiful language in the world. Steven Alan Jacobs’s love for the Italian language surpassed his childhood ambitions and sculpted new aspirations.
“From the third grade, I was singing in five different languages, but I didn’t know what I was singing,” Steven said. “Through music, I came to unknowingly love language.”
Learning Italian as well as French, German and Spanish, only began as a hobby for him. Language quickly became a tool to push Steven beyond his comfort, building his confidence and helped him discover a passion for teaching.
Since third grade, Steven was singing as a chorister with the Metropolitan Opera. He sang in the children's chorus for six years and performed in a variety of productions. During his young career, he envisioned himself as a professional opera singer. However, unbeknownst to Steven, he was unconsciously fostering a love for language through opera.
It was in high school that Steven began cultivating his knowledge and love for Italian. As a supplement to his high school Italian class, Steven utilized his home — New York City, to improve his language skills. Growing up there, Steven was provided with incredible exposure to the culture and diversity the city offers. “One of my favorite things to do was start a conversation with someone I heard on the street speaking the language that I was trying to learn,” Steven said.
Italian quickly became Steven’s favorite subject in high school and led to exciting opportunities. “My high school Italian teacher noticed I really liked the class and was doing well, so they had me apply for a scholarship to go to Italy. I got it and was able to travel to Italy to practice the language and learn more about the culture.”
While exploring Italy, Steven was hooked, not only on the Italian culture but also the experience of being abroad. “It evolved my perspective of the world because I realized that if you just have experiences in one country or state, you tend to look at the world with one singular lense,” Steven said.
Steven enrolled in Marist College’s Freshmen Florence Experience. While abroad, he volunteered as an Italian tutor in the Oltrarno neighborhood. “I volunteered at a center that welcomes migrants that recently arrived in Italy and it helps them with transitioning to the culture and language.” As a result of tutoring, Steven began to notice his innate ability to teach and its rewarding outcomes. “Tutoring made me realize my knowledge of this language could actually help other people,” Steven said. “Although I hadn’t initially thought of pursuing a career in language at the time, it helped set me along the path.”
During Steven’s junior year, he returned to Europe, spending the first semester in Grenoble, France, and his second semester in Taormina, Sicily, Italy. Once again, Steven began tutoring but this time as an English tutor at a French middle school. “I remember how excited and curious the kids were about America. It was a very eye-opening and humbling experience,” Steven recalled. “At the end, the students gave me a dozen different cards with hearts and goodbye notes. Over just ten weeks, I was able to create those connections.”
After graduating from Marist, Steven will pursue a PhD in Italian Studies at Rutgers University. He hopes to one day become an Italian professor. “It’s one of the most satisfying feelings to break down a concept to a group of people, have them understand it and then see them appreciate what they learned,” Steven said. Steven will spend the summer of 2021 in Rome furthering his studies.
Being able to positively influence students’ lives and create this rewarding feeling, is what Steven is chasing. While at Marist, Steven has been able to gain experience as a teaching assistant for Professor Melita’s Italian courses and as a tutor at the Weiss Language Center.
Steven’s Academic Advisor, Dr. Melita, provided him the opportunity to be a teaching assistant over three semesters and he is grateful for her support and encouragement. Dr. Melita said, “Steven is a natural-born teacher and his peers love him because he creates activities and exercises that are relevant to them as students at Marist. In each class in which Steven has been a teaching assistant for me, he has made thoughtful and creative contributions.”
In the classroom, Steven’s approach to teaching is relaxed and focused on enjoyment. “When you’re stressed out, you’re absorbing way less information,” Steven said. As an instructor, Steven tries to avoid using only mundane textbook exercises and incorporates alternative methods of teaching. “I try to be as creative as possible,” Steven said, who has orchestrated Italian musical chairs and also built an Italian Monopoly board. “It can be really intimidating for students to be immediately quizzed, especially in a different language.”
As for the reasons Steven has been able to fall in love with the Italian language, “It is the most beautiful language in the world. It’s so melodic and it’s rich in vocabulary,” Steven said. “The Italian peninsula has one of the most diverse amounts of languages. I believe there’s a lot of beauty in diversity.”
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