Solanco High School student excelling in three languages

When Magdalena Hawkins arrived for her freshman year at Solanco High School, foreign language department chair Jen Eisenberger quickly realized she had a prized pupil.

"She arrived armed with pocket dictionaries in her coat pockets and had a passion for learning as much as she could right from the start," Eisenberger said.

Now a senior, Magdalena is the school's World Language Student of the Year and was honored as a Student of the Month at a school board meeting on Jan. 27.

Magdalena is currently studying Spanish, French, and Italian and has earned all A grades in those classes. In fact, Magdalena carries a 4.0 grade point average over all her subjects, having never earned anything lower than an A.

"When we sat down as a group to consider who our World Language Student of the Year would be, Magdalena was the obvious choice," Eisenberger said. "It is extremely rare that we have a student enrolled in multiple languages, let alone excelling in each and every one. She genuinely represents the ideal language learner, and lover, as she pours her free time into continuing her studies and helping others."

Magdalena is an intern in the foreign language department and tutors English language learners and English-speaking students who are studying Spanish, French, and Italian.

Magdalena is in her fourth year of Spanish and has been studying French for three years and Italian for two.

"I've always been drawn to (languages)," Magdalena said. "I see it as a puzzle. It's kind of like connecting different pieces together to create a message or a picture. I've always liked puzzles, so I think that's what drew me the most."

Magdalena noted her love of languages began at an early age. "My mom (Jill Jablonski) always says as a toddler I used to watch 'Dora the Explorer' all the time, and I could count to 10 in Spanish at the age of 2," she said. "I just have always been drawn to it. (Language classes are) definitely more challenging (than other classes), but also a bit more rewarding because it's also something I'll use in my day-to-day life, whereas math I will, but not as much."

Magdalena is a member of the Spanish National Honor Society and went on the school trip to Spain last year. "My favorite is Spanish, I guess because I've been with it for the most," said Magdalena.

Magdalena is earning her service hours by helping teacher Robin Batista with students in some of her classes.

"I am very lucky to be here at Solanco because both Mrs. Batista and Mr. (Thomas) Tedrow are very, very good teachers. We also have AP Spanish Literature. ... I'm lucky to be here studying literature because it's very interesting to me."

Magdalena is appreciative of the support she has received from her mom and her stepdad, Ray Jablonski, as well as her Solanco teachers.

"My teachers have been very supportive of me throughout my efforts, and I thank them dearly for that," said Magdalena. "I think they are one of the main driving forces for me to continue with these languages."

She stated that studying three languages simultaneously can be beneficial. "All three of the languages are Romance languages, so all three are from the same language family," Magdalena said. "That basically means they are going to be similar, but they're also going to have their differences. The best way I can describe it is it's kind of like a spectrum. On one end of the spectrum is Spanish. On the other end is French and then right in the middle is Italian. (Italian is) basically a blend of the two. So, I think taking all three is helping with all of them. If I forget a word in one, I remember it in another, and that gives me a hint as to what it would be in the other language."

Magdalena has also studied Russian and German on her own. "I haven't studied Russian in a while, but I do want to pick up with it when I get to college," she said. "I also used to study German, which I'd also like to resume in college."

Magdalena, who enjoys open world games and puzzles, is undecided about where she will attend college in the fall and is considering Dickinson College and Lycoming College.

"I want to be a diplomat," she said. "I want to help people solve problems. I think by taking all these languages, I can better help with these problems."

She is contemplating studying Portuguese and Chinese at some point. "My lifelong goal is to learn five-plus languages to fluency," Magdalena said. "I think I really kick-started it here in high school."