Name: Miranda Kuzela
Major/Minor: Global Studies, Russian, Spanish, and Political Science with a minor in National Security Studies
Hometown: Bellevue, NE
Year at UNL: Sophomore
Favorite book and why: Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different through Different Languages. This is my favorite book because it shows how growing up learning a certain language affects the way you look at the world and how learning different languages obliges you to think about the world in different ways. It explains one of the main reasons why I think languages are so amazing.
Favorite movie and why: There’s so many good movies but one I saw recently that I loved was Split, because it’s so suspenseful. I love suspense.
Why Global Studies?
I chose Global Studies because it’s a really broad field that you can kind of customize, and I love learning about the world. You can focus on a certain region, and on thematic specializations such as Global Resources and Environment, Human Rights, and Global Security. Global Studies is really fascinating, and this major allows you to tailor it to your specific interests.
Experience Abroad:
This summer I studied in Vladimir, Russia for two months through the U.S. State Department’s Critical Language Scholarship Program. It was a very intensive program; we had 20 hours a week of classes with 2-3 hours of homework each day. We had classes in Grammar, Phonetics, Speech Practice, Literature, Mass Media, and History. One of my favorite parts of the program was the fact that we were given language partners - native speakers who live in the city who we can meet with, explore the city, and speak in Russian. Having a native speaker to hang out with and introduce me to other native speakers was so helpful and really improved my Russian. We also got to visit different cities either with the program or on our own. I went to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Suzdal, and Bogolyubovo. This program was a lot of fun and a lot of work and I loved it. I’m planning reapplying this year to try to go again in summer 2018.
Post graduation plans:
I’m not super sure what I want to do once I graduate, but I really want my career to have a focus on languages or linguistics. I’ve considered being a translator, foreign service officer, or a teacher/professor of a language or linguistics.
More details at: http://clscholarship.org/