Alumni Profiles

Q: Tell us about your current work! What do you do and where are you located? How long have you been in this position and how did you get started? Describe what a typical day is like.

A: I am a producer for the National Hockey League (international department), working out of NHL headquarters in Manhattan (working from home since the onset of the pandemic). I started here in the summer of 2016 after a friend in the area referred me to a job posting for the NHL international websites. I though it looked cool and was lucky enough to be hired on thanks to my skills with Russian. I work night shift so a normal day for me is coming into the office around 7:00 pm, watching all the games, and then selecting the top highlights to get translated. We work closely with a team of translators around the globe to translate the highlights, news items, and nightly recaps of action across the league. We will then post those onto the NHL websites and push them out to social media. On a normal night, we usually wrap up around 3:00 am or so. On several occasions I have also been lucky enough be sent to cover special events such as outdoor games (Centennial Classic, Stadium Series), where I was able to get access to the players locker rooms for post-game interviews!

Q: What opportunities do you have to use your Russian language skills or intercultural competencies in your current work (and/or how do you hope to use them in the future)?

A: We have 7 different foreign language websites but our Russian page is the largest and most read, so we focus on that one the most. My language skills come in handy doing spot editing while posting stories and for quick translations of in-game highlights. Our dedicated translators do most of the heavy lifting when it comes to translation but my knowledge definitely comes in handy. In the future, I hope to come into a role more directly involved with promoting and growing the NHL’s presence in Russia.

Q: How do you maintain your language skills? Do you have any recommendations or tips for current students or alumni related to language maintenance?

A: I’m lucky enough to work with a lot of Russian text so that keeps me fairly sharp (at least on hockey related vocabulary), but I would definitely suggest finding someone you can just converse with regularly in Russian to keep your skills sharp. Otherwise, reading Russian news definitely helps.

Q: How did your experiences in the Russian Flagship Program influence your career trajectory? Do you feel like this program helped you distinguish yourself professionally? Did prospective employers ever ask about your experiences?

A: The Russian Flagship Program completely influenced my career trajectory! Without it, I wouldn’t have anywhere near the proficiency I have in Russian today, and I doubt that my resume would have garnered a second glance at the NHL. I think it also shows employers your level of commitment and dedication. The Russian Flagship Program has, without a doubt, opened doors for me that I would previously have never considered possible. Additionally, my success in the program and independent traveling while on the program gave me the self-confidence and trust in myself to succeed following graduation.

Q: Tell us about a favorite memory or experience that has stayed with you from the Russian Flagship Program. Why has this memory stayed with you?

A: My favorite memory from the program was when I decided to take a solo trip during spring break along the Trans-Siberian Railroad. It was fairly late in the program so by this point my language skills were really taking off and I was able to navigate everything with relative ease. I had a lot of very interesting, perspective-changing conversations with the people on the train. I’ll never forget the look on some of their faces when they realized I was actually an American, because my Russian was good enough to make them think I was a native Russian! It was a real payoff kind of moment for all of the hard work that I had done over the years to get to that point. That trip really gave me the confidence in my language skills and in my ability to navigate the world at large that I still carry today. Oh, and Lake Baikal is absolutely beautiful!

Q: Looking back on your time in the Russian Flagship Program, what do you wish you would have known then that you know now?

A: Just do your best to live in the moment, I suppose. The Russian Overseas Flagship capstone year abroad involved a huge amount of work and it’s easy to get overwhelmed, so you also have to take time to go out and enjoy everything that the local culture has to offer. Put your Russian to work beyond the classroom and you’ll be surprised how much you can learn!

Q: Tell us about your capstone program internship. Describe your most memorable internship experience, any specific skills that you gained, or anything else that you think would be relevant or interesting to current students or alumni.

A: I was lucky enough to have my internship at Exact Poll, a lovely public opinion polling office. Most of my work involved pouring over transcripts from focus sessions and analyzing polling data. I found this to be super interesting in figuring out what your average Russian thinks about a wide variety of topics. My favorite memories from this internship, though, were taking a questionnaire booklet and polling my host-dad. He was a very interesting dude with some very unique insights into Russian culture and politics, and I learned a lot from his answers.

Q: Do you have any other advice or wisdom to share with current students or alumni?

A: Keep on trucking! Russian is a hard language, and it takes work. If you’re interested in anything to do with Russian, though – the language, culture, history, nature, whatever – I promise you that the work will pay off! Getting to experience not only living abroad but immersing myself into a language and culture so different than what I was used to made me into the man that I am today and opened up a world of professional opportunities to boot.

Q: Can you think of any ways in which your experience in the Russian Flagship Program helped you live out the Wisconsin Idea (that education should influence people’s lives beyond the boundaries of the classroom)?

A: I would say that the Russian Flagship Program undoubtedly influenced my life beyond the classroom. Learning a language is more than just understanding grammatical structures and memorizing vocabulary – it’s about better understanding a cultural context and the deeper nuanced meaning behind words. Being immersed in another culture helped me to look at the world from this different context and reexamine some of the “truths of the world” that I thought that I knew. In other words, the Russian Flagship Program will teach you to speak fluent Russian, but it will also teach you a lot about the world and yourself.

Q: Anything else that you’d like to share or add?

A: I loved my time in the Russian Flagship Program in both Madison and St. Petersburg, Russia, so a huge thank you to everyone in the UW-Madison Slavic Department who helped me along the way!

Q: Tell us about your current work! What do you do and where are you located? How long have you been in this position and how did you get started? Describe what a typical day is like.

A: I work at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, D.C. as an assistant program officer on the Eurasia program team. I oversee a portfolio of grants to civil society organizations in the South Caucasus for democracy promotion activities, including independent media, civic and youth engagement projects, investigative journalism, and human rights reporting, among other areas. I started working at NED three years ago after completing my graduate studies (Accelerated Master’s in International Public Affairs at UW-Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs) in 2017. I initially became acquainted with NED when I had an internship there in the summer of 2014 as part of the Wisconsin in Washington program (at that time, under the auspices of the Political Science Department). Those connections from my internship were useful in helping me to secure my full-time position a few years later. In a typical day, I review several Russian- and English-language news sources to enhance my understanding of current events and political developments in the countries within my portfolio. I correspond with grantees and prospective partners to monitor ongoing projects and vet new applications. I draw upon my understanding of the political context in the countries in my portfolio to present projects up for consideration along with the strategic rationale for supporting these organizations.

Q: What opportunities do you have to use your Russian language skills or intercultural competencies in your current work (and/or how do you hope to use them in the future)?

A: I use my Russian-language skills on a daily basis when corresponding with grantees, as well as when monitoring various Russian-language news sources to stay abreast of recent developments in Eurasia. Additionally, some of our partners prefer to use Russian on video calls or when meeting in person, either in NED’s office or when we travel to Georgia and Armenia on work trips.

Q: How do you maintain your language skills? Do you have any recommendations or tips for current students or alumni related to language maintenance?

I have found regular conversation groups, either in the local community or with Russian-speaking friends, to be valuable in maintaining conversation skills. In my opinion, conversational skills are the most difficult to maintain, so any opportunity to practice speaking Russian is valuable.

Q: How did your experiences in the Russian Flagship Program influence your career trajectory? Do you feel like this program helped you distinguish yourself professionally? Did prospective employers ever ask about your experiences?

The language skills and intercultural competencies I gained from participating in the Russian Flagship Program have been incredibly valuable for my career at the National Endowment for Democracy. In the interview process, I was asked about my capstone year abroad and tested on my language proficiency. The perspectives I gained from living and studying in Moscow and Almaty continue to inform my work to this day.

Q: Tell us about a favorite memory or experience that has stayed with you from the Russian Flagship Program. Why has this memory stayed with you?

It is so hard to pick just one! What has stuck with me most are the relationships I built with my fellow classmates and my tutors. I still stay in touch with a number of my capstone year compatriots, several of whom work in the DC area as well. We made it through the trials and tribulations (and joys) of that time together! Seeing them brings back memories of the capstone year excursions and of hikes in the mountains outside of Almaty, an activity I regularly enjoyed.

Q: Tell us about your capstone program internship. Describe your most memorable internship experience, any specific skills that you gained, or anything else that you think would be relevant or interesting to current students or alumni.

My internship was at a media company (Isker Media) producing a couple of different publications targeted to the business community in Kazakhstan. I helped to translate their marketing materials for English audiences and to transcribe interviews for publication. It was an interesting opportunity to learn more about the perspectives of entrepreneurs in the country, the challenges that they faced, and the hopes that they had for the future of their country.

Q: Anything else that you’d like to share or add?

When I first signed up for the Russian Flagship Program in my first semester of freshman year, I had no idea how much of an impact the program would have on my life – my studies, my career, my friendships. While the experience of learning Russian through the Russian Flagship Program was certainly challenging, it was also incredibly rewarding and continues to bear fruit to this day!