​Many Languages Vicky Gardella attended the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary Catholic School in Palestine from her elementary to her high-school years. The school lessons were taught in the language of French, so she became fluent during these years. Because Palestine still had many Arabs and Jews attending school, each child was required to learn the language of their heritage – Arabs learned Arabic, while the Jewish children learned Hebrew.  All students were all also required to take English due to the British mandate and her father believed it would benefit her if she learned Arabic. Therefore she took, and became fluent, in it; Arabic was also the official “street language” of Palestine during this time.  Vicky also learned several other languages throughout her lifetime. Her mother's side of the family originated from Greece – and many of her siblings can be found living there to this day – so she learned Greek from a private tutor after her schooling was over for the day. Greek was the official language inside their home, and she was discouraged from speaking any other languages in the house. If they spoke any other languages at home, they were hit over the head.  After she graduated school, she moved to Libya, where she learned how to speak Italian, because it was the official language of where she lived. Vicky learned to speak a little bit of German during night classes in her college years. Later in life, after marrying her husband, who was in the navy, they were stationed in Paraguay where she learned to speak Spanish. She learned to speak the language fluently in three months.   Although she is now 84 years old, Vicky has retained most of these languages; she can still speak in English, French, Arabic, Greek, Spanish and Italian.◊

MICHELE FISHER is a sophomore studying English Education. She dreams about becoming an elementary school teacher in Colorado, where she lived for 10 years. She spends most of her free time writing, or plotting novel ideas. She enjoys writing mostly fiction, although nonfiction can make its way onto her page on certain occasions. When she's not, she can be seen hanging out with friends, reading or napping. You can reach her at michelefisher_mf@yahoo.com