High schools often require two years of a foreign language for kids to get a jumpstart on their college education where most 4 year universities ask for two years of a foreign language to prepare students for the global marketplace and new, unfamiliar interactions within the workplace. 

The Seal of Biliteracy began as a grassroots program by well established organizations: Californians Together and Velázquez Press in 2008. This program garnered enough recognition via academic programs that California enacted it into state law in 2011. Other states across the nation soon followed suit with Oregon passing their own legislation in 2016. Currently, all 50 states and Washington D.C have implemented the program. Despite being nationally recognized, little information about The Seal of Biliteracy is available to students other than during morning announcements when the testing season begins which can be a lost advantage to multilingual students who may have been interested in taking the test. The Seal is composed  of four sections: listening, reading, speaking, and writing comprehension/proficiency. Many people who do decide to take the test are often already bilingual due to  

Senior David Cisneros Obledo passed the test through preparation and getting familiar with writing and reading Spanish. “I read a book in Spanish…I tried to read a chapter before bed,” he said.

Senior Al Robles felt confident about passing the test, stating, “[Spanish] was my first language…my parents are both from Mexico.” Her family gave her an early advantage in the language.