Students, teachers, and administrators of the Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies (SOCES) visited UCLA on February 8, 2024, to learn about the university’s Russian Flagship Program and tour the campus grounds. As the only high school with a Russian language program in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the fieldtrip provided SOCES students the opportunity to explore avenues to continue their Russian language studies beyond high school. The visit was hosted by faculty and administrators of the UCLA Russian Flagship Program and Center for World Languages.

The cohort was greeted by Susan Kresin, Senior Lecturer and Russian Flagship Student Coordinator in the Department of Slavic, East European & Eurasian Languages and Cultures (SEEELC), and Arturo Díaz, Executive Director of the Center for World Languages. The afternoon started with the cohort having lunch in the Rolfe Hall sculpture garden before heading off to Bunche Hall to hear a presentation on the Russian Flagship Program.

Tanya Ivanova-Sullivan, Russian Flagship Director and SEEELC Associate Professor, engaged the students with a discussion on Flagship and the academic and career opportunities that the intensive Russian language program offers. Students discovered how they could build on their Russian language abilities to achieve professional level competency while integrating their academic goals and career objectives. They also learned about study abroad opportunities and ways to fund these experiences. The discussion concluded with students asking questions about their interests, such as the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC).

The afternoon continued with the students touring the campus, led by four undergraduate students from the UCLA Admissions Office. The one-hour tour started off at the Bruin Bear statue and wound its way through Bruin Walk, Kerckhoff and Moore Halls, and down into the Court of Sciences. All the while, the high schoolers learned about the university’s academic programs, the admission process, and student life. There were also fun facts as the tour guides talked about the ritual that incoming UCLA students perform at the Inverted Fountain during their orientation and after graduation, and the height difference between the two towers of the iconic Royce Hall.

In the final part of the campus visit, the SOCES group visited Kaplan Hall, the heart of SEEELC and the Russian Flagship Program. There, they got to engage with UCLA Flagship students through a “quest activity” that was organized by Anna Kudyma, SEEELC Senior Lecturer and Russian Flagship Academic Coordinator, and Ekaterina Andruisheckhina, SEEELC lecturer and Flagship tutor. Students had to find stations on four floors of the building and complete activities presented by Flagship students Amy Cabrales, Geneva Flores, Lauren Kirkwood, and Ivana Prokopenko, who presented the high schoolers with challenges dealing with the “City,” “Food,” “Seasons and Weather,” and real Russian souvenirs that students had to identify.

SOCES students raced up and down Kaplan Hall as they completed their quests, while teachers and administrators took a much-needed break after walking all around campus. Afterwards, the winning group was presented with a bag full of UCLA notebooks, folders, pencils, stickers, lanyards, and other swag items.

The campus visit by SOCES was a mutually beneficial experience that helped connect UCLA with high school students in the local community and allowed administrators from both schools to learn about each other’s programs. Students got the chance to explore possibilities for their futures, while UCLA Flagship had the opportunity to meet the next generation of global leaders.