Bilingual Reporter Program: Interview with Jose Adolfo Valencia
Presented by Providence Health & Services--Oregon and State Farm Insurance
The Bilingual Reporter program is designed to encourage Hispanic youth to be proud of their heritage and language. Students are nominated by their teachers and then apply to have the opportunity to interview a Timbers player or a member of the coaching staff. Following the interview, the selected students are required to write a report about the experience in English and Spanish. With a professional interview, the students are able to further develop their bilingual speaking and writing skills while exhibiting a passion for the sport.
Q&A with forward Jose Adolfo Valencia
Written by Patricia Lopez Medina, Sunset High School
I'm very fortunate and blessed to have the opportunity that I had with The Portland Timbers. This experience has helped me out in many different ways. Specifically, it has helped push me to explore a career opportunity as a reporter. A reason for seeking that pathway was due to my social skills. I have good social skills that could be a benefit when interviewing people.
Another thing I liked was the preparation that was involved with the interview. The process of understanding the player's background information and then developing questions to ask him was interesting. It also helped me think about how I could do something similar to the Reportero Bilingue program. Depending on my future profession, I would like to do something that incorporates students and having them participate in a similar experience.
Another benefit from this experience was meeting Jose and getting to know him more as a person. He is a great person with very good advice and is also extremely talented. I also met some great hard working people that do so much and help make the Timbers who they are. By meeting Jose, I feel that I have a personal connection with The Portland Timbers and because of that, I will give them my support in any way I can. Overall, this was a breath-taking experience that truly meant a lot to me. Just like Jose said, "If you really have a passion for something, then follow it. But you really have to have a love for it." This helped me by thinking that I could possibly do something as a reporter. I was very fortunate to have been elected to do this and have learned many things along the way. I want to say thank you once again to everyone that I encountered along the way.
This report is also available in Spanish.
