Hi! My name is Odette Colangeli and I am 18 years old. I plan to major in Communication Science and Disorders and minor in Linguistics so that I can become a Speech-Language Pathologist. I’ve been interested in language for a while and right now am teaching myself Korean and plan to learn French. I dream of  studying abroad and even teaching English in a few countries to help familiarize myself with the language, culture, and cuisines of each. “Home body” definitely describes me, and I enjoy spending time at home listening to foreign, mostly Korean pop music; reading manga and teen fantasy novels; watching dramas, Asian variety shows, and horror-thriller movies; and finding healthy—but tasty!—meals to make.

I was born and raised in Queens, NY. My mom was born in Haiti but left when she was four to travel to many countries such as Morocco, France, and Chile until she finally settled in Queens when she was 16—her dad worked with the United Nations so they had to often move to countries in need. Because of this, my mom speaks English, French, and Spanish fluently. My dad on the other hand grew up in Brooklyn and is a 3rd generation American. His dad was born in Queens while his mom was born in Connecticut. Aside from my dad’s paternal grandfather who left Italy after an earthquake destroyed his land, all of my dad’s grandparents left Italy because of poverty, unemployment, and hunger. My dad doesn’t speak any Italian, so I unfortunately did not learn it, and my mom didn’t teach me any of the languages she knows, so English is the only language spoken at home with my two brothers.