Cecilia Callozzo’s intellectual curiosity cannot be confined to one language. Inspired by the friendships she formed with exchange students visiting her Florence, South Carolina, high school, Callozzo has long been interested in connecting with other countries and cultures.
“In high school, one of my best friends was a Kyrgyz exchange student named Benazir, who spent a year at my high school thanks to the FLEX program,” says Callozzo. “We’ve stayed in touch over the years, and all of her photos and stories from home filled me with a longing not only to reunite with my friend, but to explore her homeland just as she had explored mine.”
The senior Carolina scholar and first-generation student is fascinated by Russian language and literature, particularly Russian women writers and Soviet science fiction authors. When choosing a university, Callozzo was set on her Russian major but wasn’t sure that the University of South Carolina would be the right fit. In the end, faculty, staff and financial support through the Top Scholar and Gamecock Guarantee programs encouraged her to attend.
“The professors in the Russian department reached out to get to know me the spring before freshman year, and one even invited me to a virtual session of one of her courses,” Callozzo recalls, “which made me feel right at home.”
As the South Carolina Honors College celebrates First-Generation Student Week, we caught up with Callozzo to learn all about her experiences on campus and abroad. Her responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
What were some of the most impactful takeaways from your study abroad experience as a Gilman scholar Kyrgyzstan?
My semester abroad in Kyrgyzstan was certainly one of the highlights of my undergraduate career! I brought back a lot of treasured memories (and souvenirs!), but I also brought back a new Cecilia. Being abroad can be challenging, and at times I grew frustrated because I couldn’t see any growth in my language skills or otherwise during my day-to-day abroad. But as soon as I got home, I realized I had become a much more fluent, but also much more confident Russian speaker, and had adapted to living entirely on my own, without family or roommates, in a new place. Going abroad has better prepared me to navigate the murky waters of life post-graduation and made me more comfortable with being uncomfortable. Plus, by the time I left, I felt a real connection to my host city and felt like I was a part of a place that had once seemed so far-off and mystical to me....When I finally visited Kyrgyzstan, I got to take my own photos, form my own memories and bring home my own stories to tell about this amazing place that had previously existed only in my imagination.
Have you had the opportunity to connect with other first-gen students at USC or participate in any first-gen programming?
My amazing former Honors advisor, Amanda Heinsman, sent out a regular first-gen Honors student newsletter, which gave advice and advertised events for first-gen students in the Honors community. One of the most impactful events I attended was a seminar on applying for graduate school as a first-gen student, which has been immensely helpful as I move forward with applications to Ph.D. programs.
Which SCHC class has been the most influential on your academic journey?
One of the most impactful Honors classes I’ve taken has to be SCHC 281, The Art of Information: Culture and History through Diagrams, Graphs and Maps. There’s nothing I love more than poring over detailed, illustrated cross-sections and maps, so I was beyond excited to take it, and for good reason. This course introduced me to working with rare books and special collections, and professor Britton, a USC rare books librarian who teaches the course, has inspired me to pursue a path that combines my love of Russian literature and culture with my interest in curatorship and special collections!
What goals do you have for the remainder of your time in the SCHC and beyond?
I’ve got a lot of academic and professional goals that I’ve slowly but steadily been ticking off as the year goes by, from writing my thesis to applying to graduate schools and internships and the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant program. But I also have been focusing on my personal goals and making the most of my final year at USC and in the Honors College. My biggest personal goals are to make memories with my friends here at USC, travel as much as I can and to try out as many new things as possible. In the realm of “new things,” I checked off my first football game (embarrassingly) this fall and am looking forward to attending women’s basketball games this spring!
Do you have any words of wisdom for other first-gen students in the SCHC?
Ask as many questions as you can! There’s a lot I didn’t know about college when I started, and I would sometimes feel alienated or afraid to ask, because I thought everyone else around me had the answers. In actuality, most of your peers don’t know what they’re doing either, and it’s quite possible they have the same questions you do. So ask those questions and share what you’ve learned with others.
Above all, Callozzo encourages SCHC students to extend their learning experiences beyond the classroom, and to “take as many of the fun and exciting Honors courses as possible, and just generally make the most of your time here. I’ve been very nostalgic and soppy lately as graduation looms ever closer and have been realizing just how special SCHC has been to me, and how much I’ve grown while here!”
National Fellowships and Scholar Programs provides support for Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship and Gilman-McCain Scholarship applicants. Students interested in learning more should contact USC’s national fellowships team.