EMAIL ADDRESS: Simons-Cathy@aramark.com

Mr. Hall was my first Spanish Teacher. I fell in love with the language and the culture because of the fun and excitement that he created in his classroom. While in his classes I would imagine that I had left the United States and was living somewhere in South America. I would dream about Mexico and what it would be like to be a young Senorita. In college I began taking Spanish classes and found that my love of the Hispanic culture was growing. I took all of the classes that were offered. The final piece remaining to receive a Bachelor's degree was to live in a culture where Spanish was the primary language. I lived in Puebla, Mexico with a family for a semester of my Senior year in college. I created an Independent Study which allowed me to live as an Exchange Student with a family who had a daughter living in the United States for the same reason that I was in Mexico. In June of 1979 I graduated from Austin College with two Bachelor's degrees, Spanish and Communication Arts.

I loved to imitate Mr. Hall saying "Muy bien" and clapping his hands, but the one thing that I could not imitate was the loving smile that would follow. He has so much love and compassion for each of us. Mr. Hall touched my life in so many ways but most importantly, he is directly responsible for who I am today. Mr. Hall is a rare "National Treasure" and I am honored to have had the privilege of being a part of his life.

My first job out of college I worked for the Texas Employment Commission, as a translator and job placement counselor for the Spanish speaking people of Denton County. My second job I worked for the Texas State Comptroller's Office and taught Spanish speaking people how to set up their businesses and the Sales Tax Laws that were pertinent to their lines of business. I have used my ability to speak Spanish in every job and use it daily to communicate with friends who do not speak English

Today, I work for Aramark Inc. as the Executive Assistant to the Regional Vice President and Regional Finance Director for the Southwest Region of School Support Services. We are responsible for serving breakfast and lunch to the school children in the Southwest region of the United States. We are currently responsible for 84 school districts and as of February 3, 2003 we will be adding 20 more school districts. I use my Spanish to translate documents from Spanish to English and vice versa. I provide translation for the office as needed.

My life is so much richer, rewarding and fulfilling because of the love of my teacher, Mr. Troy Hall. Te amo!

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