Q: How did your Slavic studies prepare you for your future career? What was the most important thing you learned?
A: Slavic studies offers much smaller class sizes and a community environment on campus which was wonderful because my other classes in French literature and History were quite large. This gave students the opportunity to engage both with peers and faculty members in ways not possible in other departments. This was particularly useful for many reasons but I became much more confident sharing ideas and participating in debate compared with other courses offered at the university. The most important thing I learned was how language is above all a communication tool and I greatly benefited from some of the task-based learning that was incorporated in my language classes.
Q: How did your Slavic studies contribute more generally to your life?
A: I was always fascinated by Slavic studies so I feel that it contributed to my personal development greatly. As a literature student, it was particularly useful to step outside of the French department to see what other theoretical approaches are used in literary studies. Also, my language requirement was taken care of since I completed 4 years of study in Russian, so that was an added bonus!
Q: What did you do immediately upon graduation?
A: I worked for a year in project management for a well-known research firm in Toronto. Then, I returned to the University of Toronto where I completed an MA in French Literature. Since then, I have started my PhD in French literature.
Q: What advice would you give to graduating students, or to students thinking about the Slavic program?
A: Learn to market your Slavic studies. It would be surprising how mentioning that I studied Russian language and literature has been what remained memorable to employers etc. Many people that I have encountered at networking events, for instance, were impressed by the fact that I chose to study something that I was passionate about, even if the career paths that would stem from such a field of study were not immediately apparent.