After beginning my essays in early October, and submitting my application for the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) in November, I was notified of semi-finalist status in December and was notified of Finalist status March 27!
I will be journeying to Tajikistan this summer with the State Department on part of a government initiative to learn critical languages of national security preparing Americans for an increasingly globalized world. I will be staying with a host family in Dushanbe, Tajikistan and studying the Tajik dialect of Persian. Persian is divided into three main dialects; Farsi in Iran, Dari in Afghanistan, and Tajiki in Tajikistan.
As Tajikistan was formerly under Soviet control, it uses a Cyrillic script. As I take Latin in school, it will be an interesting departure from the script that I have used my entire life.
I will leave June 13 for Washington, D.C. and return home from Tajikistan on August 1. I have an exciting itinerary and am flying from State College in Central Pennsylvania to the capital of the United States for a 3 day orientation. Then I fly from D.C. to Frankfurt to Istanbul before arriving in Dushanbe and the nation home to the Pamir Knot- Tajikistan.
