Hudson Fortney

    Taking Chinese at W&M has been one of my most meaningful experiences of the past four years. I started taking Chinese during my first year here for the international relations major requirement, but by the time I decided to switch my major it was too late for me to give up on learning the language, and I had pretty much committed to taking the Chinese classes until I graduate. 林老师 and 苏老师 are the best Mandarin teachers I have ever had (and I’ve had quite a few), they are a big part of why I fell in love with learning the language and are two of my inspirations/role models for becoming a language teacher in the future <3. Learning a language opens up so many new possibilities and has affected me more than probably anything else during my undergrad. Studying abroad was an insanely awesome and transformative experience, and I would recommend it to everyone with the opportunity to, but especially to those learning a language. After graduation, I plan to hone my Mandarin skills in China, whether in graduate school, a language study program, or on a farm.