Studying in Mexico, pilgrimaging the Camino de Santiago in Spain, and building houses in both Nicaragua and Peru, I realized the connections that develop from knowing languages. My ability to speak Spanish allowed me to form stronger bonds with the people I met and I learned more about their respective cultures.
I am now going into my senior year at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where I am majoring in neuroscience and minoring in Russian language. It might not come as a surprise that I have chosen to study the nervous system, exploring a world as vast and mysterious as the universe, all packed inside our brains. Studying STEM has been as intriguing as traveling, and the pursuit of one should not prevent pursuing the other. After all, STEM fields are universally studied, and the network of scientists, engineers and mathematicians connects people from all over the world. Mutual cultural understanding and sensitivity is a vital part of participating in this network.
Towards the end of high school and more so during my freshman year of college, I took up an interest in Russian literature. The complexity of the characters, their glaring imperfections struck me as a genuine representation of real life. I began considering adding a minor in Russian literature to my studies. During the Summer between my freshman and sophomore years, I took an intensive Russian language course that squeezed a year of Russian into eight weeks. Even by the end of that course I was not planning on learning any more Russian and was even doubtful I would retain much. And yet, on my first day of Sophomore year, I found myself in second-year Russian class, introducing myself to the class.
Since then, my interest in and passion for Russian have only grown.
