MELBOURNE - When Charles Pindziak walked across the stage at his graduation last month, it was time for Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy to say goodbye to one of its most talented students.

That’s because Pindziak, 18, spent his years at the academy consistently exceeding his teachers’ expectations with his uncanny ability to excel in his academic courses. However, it was his success with foreign languages that truly impressed them.

Charles, or “Carlitos” as he was more commonly known each day during his sixth period Spanish class, took his first course in the language in the seventh grade.

Although none of his family is of Spanish-speaking descent, Pindziak immediately began learning the language by leaps and bounds. He consistently earned top scores on classroom tests, and at the end of his junior year, managed to take home an impressive top score on the College Board’s Advanced Placement Spanish exam, not to mention earning a bit of college credit by doing so.

“In my entire 20 years of teaching, I have never met anyone with as much talent, interest, emotion, and passion as Charlie. It is not only for speaking the language, but also learning the culture and everything that goes with it,” said Carmen Mirda, who teaches the Spanish language at the academy.

Earlier this year, Pindziak came out of the National Spanish Exam with the highest score in the state of Florida for non-native speakers.

If that were not enough, he also has become fluent in French, and well-versed in Latin and Japanese.

During his senior year, Charles took on the challenge of doing a thesis project. His choice was to become an aide for a Spanish III class taught by Mirda, his former teacher.

In order to help the mostly tenth-grade students learn more quickly and easily, Pindziak created fun games. One of the most successful projects was inventing a game similar to the television show, “Family Feud”. It is an interactive vocabulary game that gives the students a fun, innovative way to learn the class material.

Pindziak’s own secret to success in learning foreign languages comes from his willingness to explore the speech patterns outside of the classroom.

“You can only learn so much in class, and then you have to try to immerse yourself in whatever way you can. I watch television, visit internet sites, and talk to native speakers of the language,” he said.

In the fall, Charles will attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he plans to study linguistics and eventually earn a doctorate.

As for a future career, “Mrs. Mirda mentioned working for the United Nations – that would be my dream job. But if not, I’ll probably work interpreting, translating, or doing linguistic studies,” he said.

While enrolled at UF, Pindziak also hopes to study abroad.

“I was able to travel to Japan, Spain, France, and Italy with Holy Trinity. In college, I’d really like to study in Argentina,” he added.

Although his graduation was a bittersweet time for Holy Trinity, Charles Pindziak will most certainly make everyone proud.

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