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Coming Full Circle

For Maria Jay ’21, studying abroad was a significant goal she had for her college career. So when exploring the options available for the summer after her first year, she never imagined Russia would be on the list. Maria was adopted from Russia at the age of nine months old. She had always considered returning to the country where she was born, but it wasn’t something she had considered accomplishing while in college. When the opportunity presented itself, she knew it was an opportunity she needed to come full circle for herself.

Maria traveled to Russia with a group of students from the University of Dayton (UD), led by Dr. David Darrow and Dr. Caroline Merithew. The trip was connected to a History class taught by Dr. Darrow, Tolstoy's Russia. After spending the semester learning about 19th century Russia, the class culminated in writing a research paper on a particular group of individuals in Imperial Russia and connecting them to characters in Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. The final component of the course was traveling to Russia, spending a little over two weeks connecting their learning from the semester. Their time consisted of traveling to a few different cities in Russia, getting to experience several museums and historical sites about Imperial Russia, and hearing a few lectures from Russian professors at the Higher School of Economics. Personally, Maria was intrigued by the experience to connect her potential life, had she not been adopted. “It was really interesting to see how historical so much of the culture still is in Russia. It really made me think differently about what I experience in the U.S.”

One of the highlights of Maria’s trip was getting to recreate an original photo she had from the trip where her parents first met her in Russia for her adoption. “It was a really meaningful moment to be able to stand in front of the same place, 19 years later.” She also tried to find the address of the home where she first lived, but was unsuccessful with the language barrier, and with most things written in Russian.

Maria grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but stands by the fact that “coming to UD was the best decision I could have ever made,” she shares. “I’ve had opportunities I never expected to, and in such a short amount of time.” Maria has lots of goals left to accomplish in her two years remaining at UD. High on her list, is staying involved, and giving back to the areas that make UD so special to her.

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