Leroy Terrelonge III ’07, Near Eastern languages and civilizations concentrator and self-described ‘Jamerican,’ has a pretty lofty goal—he’s trying to learn all the United Nations languages. He’s fluent in English, Spanish, French, and Persian, and says he speaks Arabic, Russian, Chinese, and American Sign Language “to a lesser degree.” What’s next? Hopefully Swahili. Not surprisingly, his dream job is to work for the UN. His cell phone is programmed in French and Iranian posters cover his walls. Kofi Annan, take note.
Blockmate Ekua K. Nkyekyer ’07 relates a story of Terrelonge’s mad language skills. While riding on a bus together, she recalls, he held a conversation with two Persian native speakers who told him his abilities were ‘amazing.’ Not bad for starting the language his freshman year.
Languages aren’t all he does. He also, for example, has quite a unique e-mail signature – “LT3.”
“It started right before Terminator 3 came out, and everyone was like ‘T3! T3!,’” he said.
“But it’s funny because, you know, I’ll get e-mails back like ‘LA21.’ I’ll be like, what, are you trying to make fun of me?”
Not likely. Impressively, the Tampa, Fla. native was admitted to Harvard during his junior year in the magnet program Academy of Health Professions at Tampa Bay Technical High School.
Yet despite his remarkable gifts, friends characterize him as modest, respectful, and genuine.
His mother Marilyn Terrelonge highlighted his stubborn streak, describing his determination while playing the role of the Little Drummer Boy in a day care Christmas play.
“He was very furious. There was not a smile on his face because he was beating that drum and he never missed a beat,” she said.
That determination continues to his musical endeavors today. Terrelonge is a tenor with the Harvard Din & Tonics, and he used to sing with Under Construction, a Christian a capella group.
A former BGLTSA social chair, he also works with Building on Diversity (BOND) to organize social events for non-heterosexual students, in part because he did not come out until his freshman year at Harvard.
”I didn’t know a lot of black males who were out... I wanted people to have somebody to look to,” he said.
Sounds like they have a lot to aspire to.
