Marina Melendez, 83, MALS 88, is the director of Graduate Student Services and the program's biggest advocate. Posted 06/15/05 Marina Melendez 83 was raised by a German-speaking mother and Spanish-speaking father in Five Towns, Long Island, N.Y. She didnt speak a word of English until the age of 7. After my first day of school, my mother said I came home and refused to speak any more German, she says. And from that day on, English would be the language in our home. Melendez, however, never let go of her German and Puerto Rican roots. During her undergraduate years…