We’re currently asking LAS Majors and Minors, and recent graduates, to help us update our testimonial page. One of the first to do so is Sasha Cooke, who’ll be graduating this December…
Having lived in Mexico for a year after high school, I knew I wanted to study something related to Latin America and culture. Although I originally considered majoring in Anthropology, it soon became clear that Latin American Studies offered me the more interdisciplinary and qualitative approach that I was seeking in my education.
Looking back on the last four years, my mind is blown at the diversity of the topics and disciplines I’ve studied: languages, linguistics, literature, anthropology, sociology, gender studies, history, political science, and geography; not to mention my electives in education, psychology, philosophy, computer science, creative writing, and visual arts. The flexibility also enabled me to study for a semester in Granada, Spain, which enriched my life and learning in unforeseeable ways, and gave direction to my professional path.
Latin American Studies truly offers the opportunity to receive a well rounded Liberal Arts education, with a focus on a part of the world that I always wanted to work in professionally. Through the study abroad opportunity that the program opened up for me, I am now working as a Translation Coordinator for the Arsayian Foundation in Argentina.
I now feel confident walking into my professional life with a well-rounded and diverse understanding – socially, linguistically, historically, politically, and culturally – of the part of the world my heart has pulled me to work in.
Sasha Cooke
LAS Major, UBC