Ineta explains her past and what is in store for her future. She loves to teach for the sake of her students. Cat Gonzales
Caelin Bragg
Lantern Staff
Teaching can sometimes be a thankless and tiring job. For some, that is ok as long as it pays for their expenses, but for Foreign Language Lecturer Ineta Strems-Tregear, the teaching of language is more than just a job to pay her bills.
Ineta was born in Latvia during the time of the Soviet Union, as such since she was a child, she already had experience with multiple languages with Latvian and Russian. This is something she carried on with her when she immigrated to Peru for a better life for her and her husband’s children where she learned Spanish. After moving to Quebec, she began learning French, all the while being someone who made time to teach those around her.
“I always like to help other people learn,” she said. “So each time when I moved to different countries, I found some organizations that I can be of some help with languages. There were always immigrants, so I made some little classes, but, you know, just for free, or I tutored some children. It’s something that I love so much to do to be honest.”
After she lived in Canada, Ineta moved to the United States. After moving, she attended Wichita State University (WSU) where she earned a bachelor’s degree in French and Spanish and a master’s degree in Liberal Arts. She also taught at WSU while still pursuing her master’s degree. Ineta took up teaching full time after graduating and officially joined the WSU faculty in 2012. She was also applying to Butler in the meantime with lukewarm results.
“I did apply several times to Butler,” she said. “The first time I wasn’t even considered for interview, so I was joking to Mr. Nordman [Associate Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences], I said, ‘see! you didn’t even call me!’”
But through perseverance, she did eventually obtain the job she wanted at Butler.
“And then I was teaching one class here and there at McConnell Base most of the time, and I always had many, many students, my classes, they were always full, so that made it seen that people follow me, students love me,” she said. “Some of the people that I work with, they don’t like me because my students love me, especially at Wichita State, so Butler I always felt like at home.”
Ineta currently teaches a variety of Spanish and Russian classes at both WSU and Butler. Having taught for so long and enjoying it so much, Ineta always wants to bring the best out of her students.
“You know what I always say to my students? Work hard,” she said. “You never know when you will use that Spanish so do it well. If it’s not your money, if it’s your parent’s money, say thank you. They’re helping you. Do it well, work hard. And there are always benefits of doing that. So if I can help somebody succeed, it just makes me happy.”
