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FLAS Notes From the Field: Mary Elizabeth Mayer Returns from Eastern Europe

February 13, 2017

“To the best of my ability, I completed my task whilst abroad. I met new people, I learned more Russian, and I feel that I have come to understand the world in a different way than I did before.”

Mary Elizabeth Mayer, an Ellison Center FLAS fellow in Russian and UW undergraduate student in International Studies, traveled to the Caucasus and Eastern Europe with the School of Russian & Asian Studies during Autumn Quarter 2016.  The program, entitled ‘Policy and Conflict in the Post-Soviet Space,’ allowed her to learn about the cultures and traditions of countries that made up the former Soviet Union.  During her program, she traveled to Georgia, Armenia, Moldova, Romania, Ukraine and Russia.  She is now back at UW, where she continues her study of Russian.

She writes:

Coming back from my study abroad is not the experience that I thought it would be. I thought that I would either be a completely different person, or that I would be exactly the same and my life would continue as it was before I left. The truth of the matter lies somewhere in between these two options, and I am still trying to figure out how to adjust to life after such an exciting adventure.

Read the full post on the Ellison Center blog.

FLAS Fellowships are funded by the International and Foreign Language Education Office of the U.S. Department of Education. FLAS fellowships support undergraduate, graduate and professional students in acquiring modern foreign languages and area or international studies competencies. Students from all UW departments and professional schools are encouraged to apply. Find out more about the FLAS Fellowship here.