For many university students, learning a new language is a key part of their college experience and a requirement for their degree. For one UTulsa sophomore, however, it is not just a requirement, it is a passion.
Growing up in Houston, Texas, Anastasia Small was exposed to multiple languages from a young age. Small attended a Spanish immersion elementary school as a child, and studied Chinese after her family adopted her brother from China. Russian was another early influence, as Small’s mother is a Russian speaker, and another brother was adopted from Ukraine.
“I’ve always been intrigued by the way that language study challenges the brain,” Small said. “As I’ve picked up more languages, it’s exciting to see my brain build new pathways and absorb entirely new systems of communication.”
In high school, Small cofounded Linguistics League, the first linguistics organization for high school students. Her passion for language study continued once she arrived at UTulsa, double majoring in Spanish and economics, with a minor in Chinese. Besides Spanish and Chinese, Small has also taken classes in Classical Greek and Russian and plans to enroll in Hebrew once it returns to campus later this fall.
Outside of her classes, Small has also made a serious effort in applying to language programs around the world, having been accepted into the Russian program at Middlebury Language Schools, the American Councils Russian Area Studies Program, and the American Councils Taiwan Intensive Summer Language program this year alone.
Language learning is not Small’s only passion, however. She is also on the UTulsa cross-country team, which she sees as not that different from learning languages. “Both running and language study are pursuits with no finish line. There is no point for which you can say, ‘okay, that’s good enough.’ There is always a higher bar to reach for, and it can become discouraging. I always remind myself to take things one day at a time and focus on how far I’ve come,” Small said.
Small credits her professors within the School of Language and Literature as essential in helping her thrive in her language learning, particularly Elena Doshlygina, director of the Russian Language Program, Alpha Edens, applied assistant professor of Chinese, and Bruce Willis, professor of Spanish and comparative literature. She also thanked Terrie Shipley, director of national fellowships, for her support in applying to language programs.
“It definitely helps to have so much support from professors, my coaches, and mentors at TU. When I said I wanted to take five languages at once, they didn’t look at me like I was crazy. They had the attitude of ‘We believe in you. Now, how can we make this happen?’”
This summer, Small will be traveling to India to participate in a program with the American Institute of Indian Studies, where she will spend 8 weeks studying Hindi while living with a host family. Though still a ways from graduation, Small sees her future career being in diplomacy, translation work or the non-profit sector.