As a student, Ms. Ferraro has had the opportunity to participate in many different programs related to Japan. She worked as a peer assistant in the Keio-WM Cross Cultural Collaboration helping Japanese students do comparative research on US and Japanese culture, and subsequently studied abroad at Keio University. At William & Mary, She lived in… Read More

Mackenzie Neal began studying Japanese in high school and has continued to explore the Japanese language and culture during her time at the College. A Government major with a minor in East Asian Studies, her research interests include Japanese soft-power politics and Asia/Pacific security architecture. She has served as a TA for the Japanese Language… Read More

The study of Japanese is the skill set that Yunyi Zhu pursued during his four years at the College of William and Mary, thanks to the enthusiasm of Japanese Study program professors. He especially benefited by studying abroad at Keio University and counts that experience as one of the best memories of his life. In… Read More

I first became interested in Russian Studies after eating at an Eastern European restaurant the summer after I graduated from high school. The food was so unlike anything that I had ever tried before, and the atmosphere was so unique and fresh that I wanted to learn more. I did some reading about Russia, Russian,… Read More

Over the past four years, much of my academic and extracurricular life on campus has revolved around Russian and Post-Soviet Studies. I have participated in student-led groups, such as the Russian and English language newspaper Gazeta and the Russian Music Ensemble. I lived in the Russian language house for two years. This year, I also… Read More

I began studying Chinese in the summer of 2011. Now, seven years later, it seems almost natural that I would major in it, but this has been a wonderful journey. I’m grateful to everyone in the Chinese department, both the professors and the students, for making the last four years so memorable. I still remember… Read More

When I entered William & Mary as a Freshman in the Fall of 2014, I knew that I wanted to study a subject that would allow me learn more about and connect with people and cultures around the world. After some exploring, it became clear that Chinese was the obvious fit. As a Sophomore, I… Read More

I am so thankful for the opportunities the French department at William & Mary has given me over the past four years.  I’ve had great professors and met some of my closest friends in this department.  When I was a freshman, I remember taking the French freshman seminar with Professor Magali Compan—and how incredibly intimidated… Read More

I am very happy with my decision to double major in Hispanic Studies and History. After taking Advanced Grammar and Composition with Professor Jorge Terukina Fall of my Freshman year, I decided I wanted to major in Hispanic Studies. The small class size and professor support that I encountered from my first class in the… Read More

My name is Nicole Cook and I am graduating with a double major in International Relations and Chinese Studies. I feel beyond blessed to have been a part of the Chinese Department all four years! I truly love the challenge of mastering a second language so different from English. I entered William & Mary never… Read More

I cannot imagine my college experience without the Chinese Studies program. I was nervous to transition from a high school to college level language program, but my Chinese 202 teacher worked hard to bring me up to speed with my older classmates and made me feel comfortable in a challenging learning environment. She was the… Read More

The past four years in the French department at William & Mary have given me countless memories and opportunities, both inside and outside the classroom. The French classes I’ve taken here have covered a diverse range of subjects- from art history, to Francophone North America, to the portrayal of monsters in 18th century literature- which… Read More

I have had an amazing experience as a French and Francophone Studies major at William & Mary. Coming from a French Canadian background, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I took my first French class. After four years taking classes in the French Department, I can absolutely say that I’ve learned so much. I’ve… Read More

I began my French major simply intending to retain some of the language I had learned in high school. However, I have learned so much during my four years of taking French here at William and Mary beyond simply becoming more fluent in the language. From Art and Culture classes, to the history of Versailles,… Read More

The Chinese Department at William & Mary was instrumental in my progress from high school to what lies beyond. I have taken Chinese every semester but one here, beginning with 301 and ending with 404. I wasn’t sure at first if I wanted to major or minor in Chinese, but Tang Laoshi gave me the… Read More

Over the past four years, my French courses have pushed me to think from different perspectives and express myself in new ways. I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity to study and research in France twice through the French department. These experiences helped me to hone my language and interpersonal skills in and out… Read More

My name is Lawrence Thurber and I am a double major in Hispanic Studies and Finance. I really enjoyed my academic track and experience at William and Mary because I was able to combine business with intercultural communication thanks to the Hispanic Studies department to create my own international business degree. Through the Hispanic Studies… Read More

Hola a todxs! My name is Kelley Doyle and I am a Hispanic Studies and Religious Studies double major. Coming into college, I knew I wanted to continue Spanish, having begun studying the language in middle school. My first semester, I jumped right in and took a Freshman Seminar with Professor Cate-Arries called “Imaginando Madrid:… Read More

I knew I’d found my home at the College on the first day of my freshman year in Professor Magali Compan’s French 151 seminar. I loved the chance to connect with other francophiles and to have challenging, enriching discussions together. Through the Francophone lens, I loved learning about art, history, culture, linguistics, poetry, and so… Read More

I went into my Freshman year totally unsure of what I wanted to pursue. I have always been interested in my Chinese heritage, which led me take A Brand New China as my freshman seminar and enroll in the Heritage Speakers course. Every semester, I found myself wanting to make space to take more and… Read More

In my few years here, I’ve been as active a participant in three separate departments within Modern Languages, and would have gladly done more if it was possible to cram so much into such a short period of time. My absolute favorite thing about each of these departments are the professors that are so glad… Read More

Throughout my time with the French department, I have learned a great deal about not only French culture but the cultures of other francophone countries as well. I appreciate the relationships I developed with my professors and the opportunities they gave me to pursue a variety of interests in the context of French such as… Read More

My interest in Chinese language and culture began when I lived in Hong Kong and Beijing for middle school and high school.  During my time at William and Mary as a double major in Chinese and Government, I was able to further expand my knowledge of China while thinking about how to aid US-China relations in… Read More

One of the most meaningful experiences that I’ve had with the French and Francophone Studies Program has been my junior year study abroad in Montpellier. I would have never studied abroad in Montpellier and met all the incredible people I did if not for the program. I’m so grateful to all the powerful women within… Read More

I’ve been interested in Chinese ever since I lived in Beijing as a kid. It’s been interesting learning more about the language and culture these last four years. I spent my junior year studying abroad at Tsinghua, where I improved my language skills and traveled around the country. After graduation, I’m moving to Seattle to work… Read More

Through the French and Francophone Studies program, I’ve learned invaluable communication skills and deepened my knowledge of cultures abroad. Through my courses and with the support of fantastic professors and classmates, I’ve engaged with texts, art, and film from around the world, which has enriched and diversified my education. My mentors in the department challenged… Read More

The Hispanic Studies department was fundamental to my time at William & Mary. I was fortunate enough to balance humanities and business, being a Finance and Hispanic Studies double major. My background in Spanish goes all the way back to elementary school, where I was in an immersion program. Fast forward to college, and I… Read More

Before I started my undergraduate career at the College of William & Mary, I figure skated competitively.  Taking lessons from a couple of Russian Olympians and skating to the popular Russian folk song “Kalinka” were perhaps the two main factors that launched my interest in studying Russian.  Little did I know that I would decide… Read More

My years here at William & Mary have been beyond invaluable in how they’ve changed my outlook on life and desire to affect change in the world. Between the IFE Program in Brussels, and Professor Kulick’s very practical and informative TESOL classes, I’ve learned quite a bit on the difficulties of navigating different languages and… Read More

I had an incredible experience with the French program. I originally intended to take a few classes for fun, but after taking just one class, I wanted to keep taking classes. I learned how to critically think about literature, art, film and music. Professors in the French department provided me with a deeper understanding of… Read More

When I came to college, I originally planned to minor in Hispanic Studies as a casual way to keep up with the Spanish I studied in high school. However, after earning so many credits through the Cádiz summer program in 2015, I decided to pursue the Hispanic Studies major alongside Public Policy, and I am… Read More

The Hispanic Studies department gave me the unique opportunity to spend an extended time in Argentina, fostering a passion for music and human rights issues, as well as the connections between the two.  I was able to meet some incredible, motivated people who have a hunger for life, learning, and justice. My hope is to… Read More

My name is Eleanor Morrison and I am truly indebted to the Hispanic Studies faculty at William and Mary. I began to take Spanish classes in elementary school, but I did not fully develop an interest in the language until college. My courses at William and Mary taught me that the Spanish language is much… Read More

Although saying goodbye to the Hispanic Studies program is bittersweet, I am so grateful and happy to have been a part of it for the past few years! Despite my naive freshman intentions to only take a couple of Spanish-related classes during college, I just couldn’t stay away. The incredible faculty members have pushed me… Read More

Coming into college, I knew I wanted to continue taking Spanish to keep up my language skills, but didn’t expect to become a Hispanic Studies major.  This changed from the very first class I enrolled in, a Freshman Seminar with Professor Cate-Arries. I saw that a major in Hispanic Studies would do much more than… Read More

When I started at William & Mary, the only thing I thought I was going to do was study English. But during the spring of my freshman year, I took a Spanish conversation course, and it launched me into the world of Hispanic Studies full-time. My experience in Hispanic Studies is inextricably linked with the… Read More

I struggle to find the words in either English or Spanish to accurately describe my gratitude and relief that I chose a Hispanic Studies major. I transferred to William & Mary my junior year and was immediately introduced to an entirely different approach to learning Spanish; I was also immersed in social justice, art, history,… Read More

When I came to William & Mary as a freshman I had originally planned on minoring in Hispanic Studies. After taking a couple of Hispanic Studies courses that year, I had the opportunity to study abroad in Cádiz, Spain. Guided by Professor Cate-Arries, I had the most amazing experience while abroad, and now regard Cádiz… Read More

Arriving as a freshman at the College of William and Mary, I decided I wanted to challenge myself. My first idea to do so was to learn a new language, and Chinese felt like the evident answer. The highlight of my time as a Chinese Studies major is, without a doubt, the opportunity I was… Read More

Before coming to William and Mary, Spanish had always been one of my least favorite subjects, and I could not wait to be done with language requirements forever upon graduating from high school. However, I hadn’t taken enough Spanish classes to meet the GER language requirement at W&M, so I chose to “get it over… Read More

I knew as soon as I entered William and Mary that I wanted to major in Hispanic Studies, but I couldn’t have imagined how much the past four years of being a student in the Hispanic Studies department would mean to me. Since my first day at William and Mary, the classes and the professors… Read More

I began studying Chinese in high school, and William & Mary’s program served as a perfect continuation for my study of Chinese language and culture. With the help of W&M faculty, who recommended me to the program, I was able to study abroad in Beijing during Fall 2016 through Middlebury Schools Abroad. Both language and… Read More

My time in the German Studies Program at W&M has contained some of my favorite experiences of my college career, including learning from some of the finest professors and meeting some of the coolest people. As a freshman, I decided to begin taking German courses even though I had already fulfilled my language requirement. Little… Read More

As a major in German Studies at William & Mary, I had the opportunity to spend a year abroad through the exchange program we have with the University of Münster. I would not trade my time in Münster for anything; it brought me friendships with people from around the world, I got to immerse myself… Read More