Massimo SassiDeerton, MIItalian Language Tutor, Middlebury College Graduate
I have spoken Italian with my father, who is a native speaker, since I was a young child. I have studied Italian for four years at the undergraduate level while attending Middlebury College, an institution renowned for its language programs. While at Middlebury, I also went to the Italian Language School, an 8-week program in which students take a handful of college courses in Italian and follow a language pledge that ensures that all communication is done in Italian for the length of the program.
In terms of work experience, I have worked as a teaching assistant for a courses titled "Culinary History of Italy" (ITAL 1003). While at this position, it was my responsibility to read 15-25 responses each day, compile information from the responses into a half-page document for the professor, and to provide feedback on student's responses to generate ideas for in-class discussion. I have also worked as an Italian Research Assistant for the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism (CTEC) at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey. At this position, which was entirely remote, I worked with closely with the team at CTEC, graduate students studying Italian, and a Middlebury language professor. Our responsibilities entailed collecting and translating culturally sensitive documents from Italian into English and compiling said translations into research deliverables for Spectrum Labs, a startup AI company based in San Francisco.
As I briefly mentioned, I am Italian-American, and I consider it to be an important part of my identity. Honing the Italian language has been essential in keeping in close communication with my family abroad.
