Why Be Bilingual?

Today while coming across the New York Times, a story crossed my eyes. After doing my research paper on Bilingualism, the article discussed how being bilingual can be beneficial. Looking around in today's world we can see that there are many different ethnicity's  that shape it. We have many coming to America where their dominant language is Spanish. This definitely has been the controversial subject across the continent but I feel as though we may benefit from learning a second language. Today, we see many people in school, especially children, being required to take a language, and Spanish is the first choice of many. I believe that by taking Spanish, it allows you to gain a little more independence that you are not just familiar with your main language but also another one. It gives your freedom. Just like the Immigrants being taught English over here in America, we also must take initiative and develop a second language so that we can gain knowledge about where they came from and have a conversation in another language. This would be extremely beneficial for many. My younger cousins in Elementary school are starting a language in 1st grade! Times have really changed. I think it is awesome. I know many are struggling and fighting to not win this battle but I believe that as a soon-to-be teacher, we must enforce our kids of the future to pick up another language. Heck, why not minor in it. It may look better on a resume if you have a second language of Spanish under your belt because of the fact that the Spanish population comes in second in America, especially in schools!