Fluent in three languages, sophomore Maggie Diaz tells how she uses all of them in her personal life.

Diaz speaks English, Spanish and  sign language. She learned all three languages as a child, mastering them as she grew up.

“I’d usually stay home with my aunt for most of the day [growing up], and she only speaks Spanish so she taught me pretty much all I know,” ] Diaz said.

Knowing how to speak Spanish is very relevant in Diaz’s life to communicate with relatives.

“I only speak Spanish outside of my house with my mom’s side of the family like my grandma, aunts, uncles and cousins,” Diaz said.

Sign language has also been a major part of Diaz’s life to communicate with her mother, who is deaf. Starting with a high fever, her mother developed an infection that permanently took away her hearing at a young age.

“It [sign language] helps me communicate with my parents everyday,” Diaz said.

With her immediate family speaking  Spanish and English, it makes things simple in the sense that there is only one type of sign between the two languages.

Diaz plans to use her unique skill as an advantage looking forward into her future. Looking into how her trilingual assets affect her life right now, she plans to test out of her current Spanish class at DHS to earn her college credits in high school.