Congratulations to the graduating class of 2025-2026! We are so proud of this talented, thoughtful, dynamic, and creative group of students. We are grateful to have been a part of this stage in their life’s journey, and excited to see where they go next!
Read on for thoughts and reflections from a few of these amazing students:
- What activities were you involved in during your time on Campus?
- What was your favorite college class or academic experience?
- What is your favorite college memory, or what will you miss most about UW-Madison?
- What are your hopes, plans, and dreams for the future?
Theo Bang
Activities – While I wasn’t involved in many activities myself, aside from my part-time job, I loved to go support my friends, when I could, at conferences like WiGL.
Classes – My favorite class was probably one of my first Spanish linguistics classes I took, Spanish 225. It was such a fun class, and since I took it along side Ling 101, it was always funny when I learned terminology in Spanish before learning it in English!
Memory – My favorite college memory was going to Madrid over the summer. While not necessarily a Linguistics memory, getting to go abroad and indulge myself in a language was invaluable.
The Future? – I don’t have any plans currently lined up, but one thing that is top of my list is to finally go to Japan. Going to Madrid, and being able to immerse myself in a language I was proficient in was amazing, and I would love to do that again with Japanese.
Thank you to all my professors, my friends, and my family for supporting me throughout the years! You mean so much to me, and I truly can’t thank you enough.
Lillian Eytcheson
Activities – I am in Spanish Club and I also tutor Spanish for the UW GUTS program!
Favorite class – My favorite class was Spanish Linguistics 320 with Professor Steve Fondow and my favorite academic experience was studying abroad in Costa Rica.
Favorite UW memory – My favorite college memories are from spending time at the Union, soaking up sun, swimming off the peer, and eating lunch on the terrace. Along with my friends, that’s what I’ll miss most.
The future? – I start UW-Madison’s World Language Education Master’s Program this June! I hope to teach Spanish and English, not only in Wisconsin but in other parts of the world, too. I hope to never stop traveling!
Chase Finnegan
Classes – History of Buddhism and Japanese Ghost Stories classes.
Memory – The kindness and talent of the students.
The Future? – I would like to learn languages.
Malia Ford
Activities – I am the 1st Vice President of the Eta Iota Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc on campus. I am a member of Black Student Union, the African Student Association, and the Caribbean Student Association. I did student modeling for MODA Magazine, and The Vault: Business Behind Fashion. I am also an English tutor for GUTS.
Memory – I am going to miss sitting around Library Mall with my friends when it gets warm.
The Future? – I am moving to Georgia to pursue HR.
Mitchell Lattis
Activities – In my pre-pandemic time at UW I was the Director of Urban Agriculture at FH King SSA.
Favorite class – I feel quite lucky that I got to take Metalinguistics with Dr. Kelly Wright for my capstone.
Favorite UW memory – I will miss access to the libraries.
The future? – In the short term I intend to spend a year teaching English in South Korea. Beyond that I may decide to attend grad school, or find further employment in TESOL.
Benjamin Lewis
Activities – Running Club and Deliberation Dinners.
Favorite class – My favorite class was my capstone on language endangerment and revitalization with Ryan Henke, where I was able to study an endangered language in Thailand with a highly distinctive register system.
Favorite UW memory – I will miss the natural environment of being next to the lake, especially the lakeshore path since I enjoy going on long walks or runs.
The future? – For the time being, my hopes are to find a job where I can build upon skills I have and lock down a career path I can move forward and be satisfied with. Hopefully one where I am not tied down to specific locations.
Emma Marshall
Activities – I was involved with VSA Dance and Unit.E. I was also an ESL tutor through the Madison Literacy Network.
Classes – I have enjoyed so many of my classes, but my favorite were definitely the more research heavy classes and seminars. I particularly enjoyed Advanced Morphology with Monica because I got to perform corpus research while analyzing Lao morphology. That was definitely the most fun I have ever had writing a paper!
Memory – Performing at MCOR and VSA’s Tết and Culture Night events with VSA Dance were some of my favorite memories! Everyone was so sweet and fun to work with and I will miss that community a lot. Other than that, I cherish my time studying abroad in Laos and am grateful for everyone I studied with and made the experience possible.
The Future? – I will be moving to Illinois after graduating to study at UIUC in their Translation & Interpretation Masters program, where I will focus on Lao and Chinese. In the long run, I hope to continue learning more languages and eventually get my PhD. Overall, I just hope to continue researching and/or working with foreign languages as my career progresses.
All Ways Forward!
