I really like to learn new languages. I鈥檓 in Spanish five right now. And I speak four other languages: Italian, French, Spanish and English.
I鈥檓 from Italy, but I鈥檝e lived in Lawrence, outside of Boston for nine years now. I鈥檓 originally from around Tuscany. Castel del Piano. It鈥檚 a very, very small village, 1,000 or so people, but it was nice.听
My family is also from the Congo and back home they speak French. When I was living in Italy, I鈥檇 have relatives in France and I鈥檇 go visit. The story that my mom always tells me is she dropped me off there for three months in June for a summer vacation, then she picked me up and I just spoke French. I was five. Besides French, we also speak a lot of Tshiluba, Swahili and Lingala. It鈥檚 a language from our tribe.听
I feel like all my life I鈥檝e always kind of been independent. Even when I鈥檓 in Boston, I always try to find new places to visit. I don鈥檛 really like to take the same route every time when I鈥檓 going around the city. I kind of just want to keep going everywhere.
That鈥檚 something that I really appreciate about boarding schools like this, because we have international students and people that come from all different places. Where I get most of my support is from my friends.听
I also appreciate that we have jobs. The work program I think is annoying, but it鈥檚 fun. I really like the kitchen jobs. It鈥檚 productive. I feel like I鈥檓 doing something good. I was washing dishes and like, this is actually not that bad. We鈥檙e playing music, hey! It鈥檚 teamwork. 