Choosing a Path

 

Image credit here. It says, "Russian Language"

Dr. Frost spoke to the teeming auditorium of orienting Freshman students, a chore he performed year-after-year. He taught Russian language and culture at The University and had a mandate from the Dean to increase his enrollment. So he stood at the podium and spoke into the sea of high school Seniors overloaded with pamphlets and papers, to-do lists and like-to lists who were completely caught up in the tide of excitement which comes with promises of adulthood and freedoms as yet unknown. 

 

He encouraged the students to consider something beyond the Romance Languages, spoken by half of the world and critical to the development of relationships between those in post-Cold War, post-USSR countries and the USA. Business, government and educational institutions would be clamoring for those who knew and understood Russian language and culture. He guaranteed those venturing into the Slavic world would not be disappointed. 

 

Then the coordinator of the program signaled him to wrap up his speech, so he ended with, “See you in class – dosfidonya” and hurriedly walked off the stage. 

 

A young woman sat in the sea of rising Freshmen glad for the cool of the auditorium. Walking back and forth across the Quad in June heat and humidity was a new experience but all of it was a new experience. Her high school class numbered around 200, and she felt insignificant amongst the thousands of people at The University. While she topped her classmates at home, she registered her lack of qualifications to apply for University Ambassadors or other top tier extracurriculars. Small fish, big sea.

 

By the time Dr. Frost made his way to the stage, her future plans muddled with worries of failure. She had completed a placement test for French earlier in the orientation weekend, so she knew she could begin in Sophomore level classes. Still, Russian sounded exotic, and she had taken a Russian culture class during high school and yes, the opportunities available to someone who knew Russian could be endless. . .and in that moment, she recognized possibility again and registered excitement for the first time since the Welcome Reception on campus. She thought, “Why not?” And when the good doctor said, “See you in class,” she replied, “Yes, Sir!”

 

2/23/26