Japanese | Latin

YAIR M. MONTES DE-OCA | JAPANESE

BY MICAH PORTER

Life Editor portmj19@wfu.edu

Yair Morales Montes De-Oca has been selected to represent the Department of East Asian Languages as a graduating Japanese major. A Winston-Salem native, De-Oca’s decision to attend Wake Forest University was influenced by his proximity to the university, as well as stories from his older siblings’ attendance. After arriving on campus, De-Oca decided to challenge himself by taking an introductory Japanese course — little did he realize that this initial exposure would influence his decision to fully commit himself to the study of East Asian languages. However, De-Oca’s commitment to studying the culture of Asia wouldn’t end at learning Japanese, he chose to also gain fluency in Chinese. De-Oca will now be graduating as a Japanese and Chinese double major. Reflecting back on his experiences with language, De-Oca credits his interest and motivation in his studies to his exceptional professors, particularly Professor Takata Rallings. Rallings motivated De-Oca to continue his studies in Japanese, and also convinced him to spend a semester abroad. “The professors in the department of East Asian Languages are extremely supportive and have been a huge influence in my academic journey,” De-Oca said. One of the ways in which the EAL department assisted De-Oca was by guiding him in his study abroad search. During his sophomore spring, De-Oca was able to take his studies abroad in Japan, where he improved his level of proficiency and made countless connections within the local community. From the food, to the sites and the culture, traveling to Japan will go down as one of De-Oca’s most memorable undergraduate experiences. Situated near Osaka, Japan, DeOca engaged with a host of international and native students, and was able to travel around the country. The summer leading into junior year, DeOca chose to return to Asia and embarked on a study abroad journey to Beijing, China, where he participated in a language intensive program to develop fluency in his second major: Chinese. De-Oca mentioned that having knowledge in both Chinese and Japanese is extremely helpful, as they build off of each other in terms of writing. Ultimately, the experience of going abroad to a territory unknown was invaluable to DeOca, who said, “The highlight of my time at Wake has been studying abroad and engaging with communities in China and Japan.” For students interested in pursuing a major or minor in East Asian studies, De-Oca advises that consistent practice is the only way to achieve mastery. Chinese and Japanese are both notoriously challenging languages. Both require commitment to gaining an appreciation and understanding of, not only the language, but the culture as well. And while De-Oca has taken the difficult route of studying both Japanese and Chinese, he recommends learning a basic level of the languages or taking a trip to at least one of these countries. Both are rich in culture and the native people are always excited to engage with American students. As a double major in Chinese and Japanese, De-Oca plans on pursuing a career as an English teacher in China after graduation, with hopes of becoming as an instructor in Japan after that. The next steps for him include gaining certification as an English teacher, and his professors and friends have full confidence that he will achieve this goal. In the meantime, De-Oca is excited to finish his last semester at Wake Forest with exceptional grades, and graduate with the peers he has spent the last four years with. DeOca is immensely grateful to his professors in Japanese, and looks forward to exploring the limitless possibilities his knowledge of Japanese and Chinese will provide him in the future.

Photo courtesy of Yair Morales Montes De-Oca

ANNA CAMPBELL | LATIN

BY AINE PIERRE

News Editor pierav20@wfu.edu

Anna Campbell first visited Wake Forest while being recruited to run, but incidentally, she found herself taking the first step on another kind of track: the track toward being a Latin major.

“While I was here, I emailed the head of the classics department asking for information about their program,” Campbell said. “And she actually offered to meet with me while I was on campus. And so that just got me really excited about Wake Forest’s Latin program in particular. So that’s why I decided to pursue that.”

Campbell took Latin throughout high school and says that she loves the challenge that translating the language gives her.

“It’s really challenging, but in a fun way,” Campbell said. “When I do my Latin homework, it never really feels like work. Even though it takes a long time. I just really enjoy reading Latin. I think the first fun part about it is just translating and trying to get the Latin to make English sense.”

“And then of course, once you’ve accomplished that, you have the challenge of trying to figure out what it means and analyzing it as you would English literature,” Campbell said. “And so it’s kind of a two-fold challenge. But I love that. And I also love the bonds that studying Latin creates with the other people and professors in your classes who are also reading it.”

Campbell cited three influential professors in the classics department with whom she worked closely. One of them, Dr. Caitlin Hines, is now an assistant professor of classics at the University of Cincinnati. She also worked closely with Professors T.H.M. Gellar-Goad and John Oksanish, who are still at Wake Forest. Both of these professors had high praise for Campbell.

“[Campbell]’s Latin skills are razor-sharp,” Gellar-Goad said. “Her acuity and attention to detail would give any classics graduate student a run for their money — and she combines those skills with a distinctive inquisitiveness that takes the long view on Roman literature and culture.”

Campbell is incorporating that long view into her senior thesis, which is centered around the Metamorphoses of Ovid, from whence most of the Greek myths in the popular canon come.

“I’m going through the poem, and I’ve picked three selections that kind of relate to each other,” Campbell said. “So I’m doing an analysis — comparing and contrasting those. And I’m also looking at Ovid’s use of legal and financial language within those selections.”

Oksanish, who first taught Campbell in Introduction to Latin Prose (LAT 212), is advising Campbell on her thesis.

“It has been such an immense pleasure to work closely with Anna this year on her thesis project, an interpretive commentary on selections of Ovid’s Metamorphoses,” Oksanish told the Old Gold & Black. “Particularly during this trying academic year, I valued our weekly meetings immensely.

“I won’t forget taking camp chairs out onto the Reynolda lawn this past fall so that we could meet face to face to discuss her ideas and work through the text,” she said.

Oksanish continued, “I know Campbell will go on to great things and am so glad that she will bring what she learned from her WFU Classics experience with her. It was a privilege to have had the chance to work with her.”

As she prepares to leave the Wake Forest Classics department behind, Campbell offered this piece of advice to prospective Latin majors.

“My advice would be, to take as many classes as possible, and try to get as many different professors as you can because every professor at Wake Forest has something really unique and great to offer,” Campbell said. “And when you find a professor, your tendency is to sign up for more classes with them,” Campbell said. “But I think the great thing about the classics department is all the different perspectives I got on Latin from the different professors.”

“I would also tell these students to try to go to the talks,” Campbell added. “The department usually has speakers come in from different universities, and they’re just really great.”