Spanish Club President Vince Hickerson walks into a room of anxious members, puts his bag on a chair and opens a PowerPoint on the SmartBoard on Sept. 19. It’s 7:04 a.m.

“Sorry I’m late,” he says, showing a little bit of nervousness. “Can we get started?”

His subjects quietly agree, and Hickerson begins with the first order of business: movie night. The only option available is “The Legend of Zorro.” Not completely satisfied with the choices, Hickerson suggests “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Volver.”

After some dead stares from the crowd, Hickerson asks, “Has anyone heard of these movies?”

“No!” one of the more enthusiastic members shouts.
Hickerson shrugs it off. He realizes that most Spanish Club members are there for fun and a note on their resume. But he’s club president for an entirely different reason.

“Learning the Spanish culture is interesting,” Hickerson said, “And learning the language helps you put the English language together better, too.”
Hickerson is the only Spanish Club president to serve two terms, helps sponsor Stacy Berberich in many ways, including giving her advice on her SmartBoard. He leaves her a tip every morning.

“I’d say a third of what I learned on the SmartBoard, he taught me,” Berberich said.

Five years of Spanish have taught Hickerson quite a bit. He’s now a class expert on verb conjugation, vocabulary and sentence structure. He plans on sharing his Spanish know-how with others by starting a study group in the near future. Still, Hickerson feels he can learn more. He plans to travel overseas next year to get a better grasp on the language.

“I plan on going on the trip to Spain at the end of this year with the French, German and Spanish clubs,” Hickerson said.

For now, however, Hickerson is satisfied to keep up his technological Spanish Club meetings. While he waits for his trip to Europe, he’s busy printing out business cards and planning club functions. Despite his quirks, Hickerson is working hard in his presidential role.

“Vince is very interesting, funny,” Berberich said. “He’s extremely competent, he is obsessive compulsive, but he’s very organized, and I get to sit back and watch him do the work.”