Elizabeth Miller

Majors: International Studies, English

Minors: Russian, Political Science

Graduation Year: 2025

What are you doing this summer?

I received the Fulbright-Hays scholarship, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, to study Russian. Through the scholarship, I am studying and living in Riga, Latvia, for two months, and taking Russian classes through the University of Georgia and the Baltic Center.

How did you find out about this opportunity?

My Russian professor at CWRU, Tatiana Zilotina, sent me the information for the scholarship and encouraged me to apply. 

What has been your favorite experience so far?

I have really enjoyed being able to use Russian in daily life–when ordering food at restaurants, on the trams, and when shopping around Riga. The only time I get to do that in the US is at Brighton Beach in NYC, an area where many Russian speakers settled after immigrating.  

What are you looking forward to the most during the rest of the summer?

I’m really looking forward to going to Warsaw, Poland, where I plan to go to the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews and walk around the former Jewish ghetto, which was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II. In addition, through the program and funded by the scholarship, I will be traveling to Tallinn, Estonia, and Stockholm, Sweden, and I am excited to see and explore those capitals as well. 

How has this enriched your college experience?

These two months in Latvia along with the four months I studied in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany this past spring semester will result in half my year being spent in Europe. I love having the ability to learn from and work with professors and students I would otherwise have not had the opportunity to at CWRU. Being abroad has exposed me to differing perspectives and histories, expanded my cultural awareness and knowledge of each country’s political systems and exhibited to me each country’s way of living, working and studying.