Being multilingual is important to me and relevant in this continually evolving and ever-diversifying country. No one in my family speaks another language besides English, except for myself of course. I speak 4 languages in total, and my passion for languages started with Spanish back in the third grade when Spanish instruction became a mandatory component of my school district’s curriculum. Not only did the prospect of learning another language intrigue me, but the entire language-learning process proved seamless to me, and I picked up on words very quickly for not having had any prior education in Spanish. At nine years old, the instructor and even other students were shocked by my comprehension of the language and my little “authentic” accent. Over the years, Spanish classes of course became more complex, but the language’s difficulty to me remained consistent: easy. When it came time to take AP Spanish Language and Composition in high school, I was a bit apprehensive, but I worried for nothing because I received an A in the class and passed the College Board exam with a score of a 5.

         When I entered my sophomore year of high school, I decided it was time to broaden my horizons and learn a third language, Italian. Through the use of an app called Duolingo, and the current knowledge I had of Italian’s sister romance language, Spanish, I picked up on Italian rather quickly. At the same time, I also began to learn Portuguese through exposure to the language from hanging out with my two Brazilian friends and listening to funk music. Since Portuguese is also a romance language, I was easily able to make connections between it and the two other romance languages I already knew. When I initially entered college, my field of study was biology, and I had no intentions of taking Spanish courses at the time. However, before the enrollment period for my second semester, with my passion for Spanish – and Italian – still strong and the workload of one major being scantily challenging, I decided to add Spanish as a secondary major and Italian as a minor. The first Spanish class I took in university was advanced grammar, and I absolutely loved it and excelled in it. Until the end of fall semester sophomore year, I continued taking the necessary courses for both of my majors, and then I realized that I did not enjoy my biology major nearly as much as my Spanish major, so I demoted it to a minor (I only had one more course to take to fulfill the requirements for a minor certification), maintaining my Italian minor and upgrading Spanish to my primary – and only – major. Now, I was able to focus on Spanish, and since then I have been and am currently looking forward to studying abroad as part of the integrative experience before I graduate.

         A part of my interest in learning the languages I have is because they are reflective of my ancestry. My maternal grandmother is a first-generation Sicilian-American who grew up speaking Italian, but unfortunately lost touch with the language towards the latter portion of her adolescence. Although she no longer speaks the language and was therefore unable to impart it to her children and ultimately me, through her I have learned a lot of dialectical slang, which is one of the things that has helped me to connect more with the Italian culture. My paternal grandfather’s mother was Italian, and his father was Cuban, however the respective languages were never taught to him growing up, so that aspect of the two cultures was unfortunately not able to be preserved, therefore I was subsequently unable to learn Spanish from my father’s side. In order to connect myself more deeply with my ancestry, from the moment Spanish instruction started in elementary school, I made it a goal of mine to continue my education in Spanish and ultimately learn Italian independently, however doing so turned out to be less of a goal and more of a leisurely pursuit since I intrinsically enjoyed learning these beautiful languages and they came so naturally to me.

         In the future, I want to be a doctor, particularly an obstetrician-gynecologist, and my hope is to work outside of the United States and instead in either a Spanish-speaking country or Italy. Being able to speak another language in general is a highly advantageous feat in any occupation, especially in those of medical focus. Speaking Spanish – and Portuguese – has already proven to be beneficial in my work as a pharmacy technician at CVS Pharmacy. Since I live in a town with a high population of Ecuadorian and Brazilian immigrants, about half of the clientele I serve speak little or no English, and I very often find myself switching between languages and acting as a translator for the pharmacist in order to serve these customers. The vocabulary associated with working in a pharmacy is representative of that which I will exercise and be expected to know as a physician, therefore my intercultural communication experiences at CVS Pharmacy are extremely valuable because they allow me to practice my skills and expand my knowledge of the languages. My goal as a future doctor is to help others on the path to better health, and being able to bridge the communication gap is a highly coveted proficiency, especially within the medical field, which not only helps the individuals in question to feel appreciated and respected, but also helps to provide the best care and services possible by avoiding potential misunderstandings, a common occurrence in American medicine presently as a result of a consistently diversifying population.

         Spanish has grown to become an integral component of my life, and I highly value the experiences and opportunities it has provided me with over the last decade. It has opened up the doors for me to learning other languages and ultimately becoming more culturally aware. Every day I feel grateful for being able to communicate with a diverse group of people and I am looking forward to continuing enriching my knowledge of the languages I know and the cultures I am familiar with. In the future I anticipate potentially learning other languages and traveling to foreign territories in order to immerse myself in other cultures. Since I have never been outside of the United States, I am especially excited to study abroad in Spain this upcoming summer, if the state of the world permits.