“I Love Lucy,” a show that first aired during the 1950s, helped pave the career path of Janet Drabant, Spanish and French teacher.

“When I was young, I grew up watching ‘I Love Lucy’ and wanted to understand what Ricky Ricardo, who was Cuban, was saying when he yelled at his wife, so I took Spanish,” Drabant said.

In seventh grade, Drabant took both Spanish and French. Although Drabant was devoted to learning the languages, she said it was a challenge learning them at the same time.

“For the first year it was hard because I was mixing them up, but I learned to straighten them out,” Drabant said.

Once Drabant had mastered the two languages, she pursued her studies further.

In high school, she was taking AP French and AP Spanish. After high school, she continued to expand her knowledge for the languages by studying them in college.

While studying in college, she traveled abroad. She lived in Rennes, France, for a year and Granada, Spain, for two years. There, she said she learned about the culture and the history of the languages.

In France, Drabant visited the Eiffel tower, Notre Dame, Versailles, the Louvre, Sacre Coeur, Mount Parnase and Chapelle.

While in Spain, Drabant went to Granada, which was the last stronghold for the Moorish invaders, the medieval city Toledo and Sevilla. Drabant also has visited Barcelona and Cordoba.

After Drabant graduated from college, she initially looked for a job in translation. She said she became a teacher by mistake.

“While I was looking for a translation job, I became a Spanish and French teacher at a local high school,” Drabant said. “I thought how hard can teaching be, but it was really difficult. With help from friends, I learned to teach and found out that I liked it.”

Courtnie Henson, senior, is an AP Spanish student and is taking French with Drabant.

“It takes a lot of talent and linguistic intelligence to master the two languages like she has,” Henson said.

With spare time, Drabant continues to travel and explore. When she travels in other countries, she goes out to the little neighborhoods off the beaten paths to really experience the culture and the people.

“The natives are always surprised by how well I know the language,” Drabant said. “In Spain they think that I am from South America and in South America, they think that I am from Spain, so it’s really a compliment. The natives of France are not really sure where I’m from, but they assume that I am not American.”

Drabant encourages traveling for those who are interested in learning a language.

“Going overseas is the hardest thing at first because you are a fish fresh out of water, but when the people are talking around you, it becomes easier and will become like second nature,” Drabant said.

Now, Drabant is trying to learn Arabic because she has cousins from Lebanon, Syria and Egypt, and it is a part of her heritage.