My name is Rebecca Gips. I am an incoming third year student. I am a double major in Linguistics and Politics and Philosophy. I am also minoring in Mandarin Chinese with a language focus. I currently work as a research assistant in Dr. Fricke’s sociophonetic lab. Outside of the classroom, I am the fundraising chair for the figure skating club at Pitt.

I have just completed my eighth year of studying Mandarin Chinese, including 2 years of college level studies through Pitt. Next semester, I will take Fourth-Year Chinese 1, the highest level offered, as well as Translation Theory, a course where we begin to tackle translating higher level texts in more real-world applicable settings, such as medical or legal documents. Given my background in Mandarin, I am excited to travel to Taiwan and try to use this skill in the real world. My main goal in my travels is to develop my conversational skills, as this is often a struggle when learning a language from a textbook.

The nature of the coursework is quite diverse. In this way, I am excited to take classes both in political science and creative works. The first course I will be taking is called China and Taiwan Relations. This course will explore their political relationship and how it affects international stability and global politics. I will also be taking a Calligraphy class, which I hope will give me a deeper understanding of modern and ancient Taiwanese culture. I am very excited to take these classes, and also to explore Taiwan beyond the classroom.

再见！