Thank you for your response, Happy! I appreciated your insight on how small but intentional changes to school culture can lead to more multilingual students feeling a sense of belonging and validation. I remember my high school's “ESL” classes being secluded in a corner of the school where there wasn’t much accessibility and movement. The physical ways in which multilingual students are placed and included in school communities matter as much as the non-physical ways in which inclusion appears. To be able to see yourself in a space includes both what you can see from the outside and the inside.
I also time-to-time reflect on how my schooling experience may have been if more places embraced multilingualism. I believe that a multilingual student’s sense of self and identity are largely shaped by their environment and that the school as well as members of a school have a responsibility to craft a safe, welcoming environment where multilingual students feel seen and heard.