Freshman Emilio Islas spent the last nine years of his life learning and perfecting his knowledge of the Italian language.

Islas learned Italian in his grade school, LaSalle Language Academy, where he choose Italian over three over languages. Learning another language was a requirement that the students needed to meet at LaSalle.

“The languages they offered in my grade school were German, Italian, Spanish, and French, but I picked Italian,” said Islas.
Although he grew up with two hispanic parents, he is not as fluent in Spanish as he is in English or Italian. In his words, he is fluent in two and a half languages.

“I wanted to be unique from everyone else,” said Islas.

When asked what he likes about knowing Italian, he said he enjoys being one step ahead of others. Apart from the fact that he is one step ahead from everyone else, Islas has friends who also speak Italian.

He uses the Italian language when he traveled to Italy. Visiting Italy was a great way to learn more about the culture, grammar, and celebrations.

Learning a new language can be used simply as a way to stand out, and sometimes being the odd one out is not a bad thing.