NGU Skyliner

Samantha Mayo
Staff Writer

(Photo by Daniel Jamison)

This past year North Greenville University welcomed Professor Omar Mirabal to the Spanish department faculty.

North Greenville University came to Mirabal’s attention almost by chance shortly after he moved to Simpsonville. He had been searching for a teaching position at a Christ-centered, Bible-based institution when he came across an advertisement for an opening at North Greenville.

“It was like a miracle,” Mirabal said. “I didn’t know any college in the area; I didn’t know the area at all. I came across an advertisement for a position here. That’s how I learned about this college. I drove all the way from Simpsonville here, and I loved it.”

Immediately after arriving at North Greenville, Mirabal began working on one of his greatest contributions toward the development of the Spanish department: the establishment of a North Greenville University chapter of Sigma Delta Pi, the National Hispanic Collegiate Honor Society.

After completing several months of rigorous processes and mountains of paperwork, Mirabal’s tireless effort and dedication paid off. Psi Iota, North Greenville’s Sigma Delta Pi chapter, finally came into being during the spring 2009 semester.

Mirabal continues to serve Psi Iota and its members by acting as North Greenville’s Sigma Delta Pi adviser. He also contributes to the university by acting as a member of the North Greenville Honors Committee and by teaching several courses, including Spanish I, Spanish Intermediate Grammar and Composition, Introduction to Spanish Literature and Spanish Communication for Educators.

This semester Mirabal is mentoring Nathaniel Williams, senior interdisciplinary Spanish and print media, through his senior project.

Williams described Mirabal as “very passionate about teaching Spanish and about different methodologies of teaching.”

Mirabal’s passion for education began long before his career at North Greenville.

He began teaching in 1971 at a high school in his native Cuba. He served as the chairperson of the English as a Second Language Department at the high school.

After seven years of teaching in Cuba, Mirabal came to the United States to do graduate work at Vanderbilt University where he received his master’s degree in education with a concentration in bilingual education.

A middle school in New Jersey then hired Mirabal to teach Latin American children who had recently arrived in the United States. After two years, Mirabal was asked to teach a Spanish class at the middle school as well.

“I loved it,” Mirabal said. “It was the beginning of a wonderful career of 28 years.”|

Mirabal later moved on to teach Spanish at a New Jersey high school. Mirabal taught everything from Spanish I to AP Spanish language and literature at the high school in the daytime. In the evenings he taught courses on teaching methods at Farleigh Dickinson University’s graduate school.

Mirabal’s teaching experience also includes coordinating a student exchange program with Costa Rica and Spain and mentoring student teachers from several different universities.

North Greenville University has already benefitted from Mirabal’s hard work, dedication and extensive teaching experience. Hopefully it is only the beginning of a long and rewarding connection.

Tags: Fall 2009, Vol. 109 - Issue 2

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