In spring 2025, student and future Spanish teacher Aiden Irish had the opportunity to work at the Siena Research Institute (SRI) for an independent study with his faculty mentor Dr. Garcés (Professor of Spanish), fulfilling his curiosities about the opinions of Hispanics on pressing issues such as the economy, politics, and societal conflicts. Once a week, Aiden spent a few hours dialing and conducting surveys on behalf of SRI and other organizations trying to receive and organize answers from surveys for them to use in their studies.

Throughout his shifts, Aiden gained much experience conversing with Spanish speakers and collecting responses for organizations such as the New York Times, the New York State Department of Health, and more. However, for Aiden the focus of this experience was not only to collect data for these organizations, but also to listen and retrieve these opinions specifically from those of Latino origin. For too long, they’ve struggled to have their voices heard for many reasons, a couple of which include language barriers and ineligibility in certain polls. The Siena Research Institute, however, strives for equality and inclusion, and wants the opinions of everyone. They look for people such as Aiden who can speak Spanish to conduct polls and hear from the Latino population specifically.

One of Aiden’s most profound experiences was when he got to speak with a woman who lived in Rhode Island but was originally from the Dominican Republic. This specific survey looked for answers on the subject’s community and overall opinion on certain themes and issues within the community, such as the economy, politics, response to certain issues, and more. Aiden had a smooth and informative conversation with the woman and found that even through the phone he was able to understand the woman well and accurately record her answers. The woman found the economy to be in bad shape and expects in the future years for it to worsen due to recent government regulations. She hopes that this tariff war will end soon and that the economy will somehow become strong again.

Aiden utilized this experience to connect with his future plans to be a Spanish teacher. In his weekly diaries he wrote for his independent study, Aiden compared his experiences with the competencies of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). Aiden would reflect on what he had learned or experiences and select which competency it mostly corresponded to, such as Communication, Equity and Inclusion, Professionalism, and more. For example, Aiden mentioned his adaptability to technology by learning how to switch the transcript’s language from English to Spanish to accurately ask questions. He then proceeded to use this to explain how important adaptability is in the classroom and how this experience will be useful in his career.

Overall, Aiden is very appreciative of this experience and the valuable lessons he has learned through the Siena Research Institute. He extends his gratitude to SRI for letting him conduct his independent study work there. Dr. Garcés enjoyed hearing all about what Aiden learned when they met regularly to converse in Spanish about his written reflections submitted as part of his work.

• Written by Aiden Irish ’26, edited by Dr. Garcés