This year, for the first time in decades, Spanish is the only foreign language taught at Vashon High School, with no fourth-level option offered. A French program, launched in the fall of 2019, is being phased out.

For many years before that, the district had a thriving Japanese program that resulted in many students learning that language, traveling to Japan on exchange trips, and having a strong base for their future exploration of the language and culture of Japan.

So what is happening now is a real change for our district.

It’s made me think — where would I be today if I hadn’t taken four full years of Spanish at VHS?

To answer this question, I thought back to my freshman year at VHS, in 2013.

When I arrived as a first-year, I hadn’t put too much thought into the language requirement. I chose Spanish, over Japanese, still offered at that time, but with little expectation to take any classes beyond Spanish I and Spanish II.

Despite this, the VHS Spanish program quickly became my favorite academic subject and kick-started a lifelong commitment to connecting with the Spanish-speaking world as much as I could.

Even though the first two years of my Spanish classes were essential in building fundamental skills such as conjugation and basic vocabulary, it wasn’t until I reached the upper-level Spanish classes that I started to truly fall in love with the language.

I especially remember my Spanish IV class as incredibly formative. Now able to move past basic conversations and worksheets, we focused on deep dives into different Spanish-speaking countries and the cultural and political movements that have defined them.

I graduated from VHS with the skills to bypass the basic language courses in college and immediately started taking 400-level courses in my first year.

I studied abroad twice; once for an intensive program in Oaxaca, Mexico, teaching English in public schools, and again for a semester in Valparaíso, Chile. With both experiences, my love for the language and the people who speak it grew even more.

Spanish is now a tool I use on a near-daily basis — at work and among friends both near and far. I am incredibly grateful for my Spanish skill set; we live in a world where navigating different languages and cultures is not just handy, but essential for daily life.

I can’t imagine being where I am today if I had stopped after just two or three years of high school Spanish.

That is why the news of the increasingly limited options for languages at VHS is so concerning. The school district should be expanding its language options, not limiting them.

I fell in love with language learning at VHS. I hope that the Vashon School District and all stakeholders recognize what will be lost when language learning opportunities are diminished in our schools.

Isaac Hughes, a 2021 college graduate, now lives in Boston where he works in the food industry. He is the son of Beachcomber reporter Elizabeth Shepherd.