Rebecca Shahrooz (Biology and Spanish) and Evan Owens (Linguistics and Portuguese) are among this year's winers of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts contest "Why I Learn Languages."
Rebecca wrote her essay in both English and Spanish. She claims both the sciences and language classes changed the way she sees the world creatively. "When we get comfortable with language, we have a vessel to voice anything from a shopping list to a love of plums to our rawest selves," she writes in her essay.
Evan reflected on the importance of learning languages. He speaks English, Japanese, ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, and Portuguese. As he grew up in Hawai'i he became sensitive to language preservation. "Learning languages has not only allowed me to stay connected to my heritage," Owen writes, it also empowered him to "learn about how my identity relates and connects to many other people and places around the world."