How did you celebrate when you found out you got into Virginia Tech?

We were all excited, but I think for the most part I kept going about my day! I was worried about losing this opportunity, so I was very relieved when I saw that I got in.

What about Virginia Tech first attracted you?

What first attracted me was its location. Growing up racing mountain bikes I spent a lot of time in western Virginia, and I have always had a great appreciation for mountains and being in nature, so Virginia Tech seemed like a great place to go.

What are you most looking forward to at Virginia Tech?

Aside from its location, I am really excited for the Russian opportunities I will have at the school, and hopefully some really exciting study abroad opportunities in Latvia and Kazakhstan.

What are you most looking forward to about college in general?

I’m excited to learn about things I’m passionate about, and riding and racing my bike in the mountains.

You are planning to major in Russian (the Russian Flagship Program) - how did you first become interested in Russian?

Since I was young, I have been very interested in Russia and the Russian-speaking world. These countries have rich histories and diverse cultures and yet have been ignored and dismissed by the west. People often associate a country's government with its people, and I have always thought this was unfair. I wanted to learn more about this beautiful and misunderstood region of the world. Having studied Russian in high school and having gone to Russia I learned firsthand the culture and people that we aren’t taught in school or shown in the media.

How did the quarantine affect your college search? You visited but weren’t able to go on a formal tour - what did you think when you visited?

Being introverted, quarantine has been relatively nice, and I don’t think that I missed out much by not visiting colleges. The social aspect and feeling of the college were not very important to me during my college search, but when I visited Virginia Tech I did enjoy seeing the buildings and getting a feel for the campus.

What did you find most helpful in researching and applying to colleges?

Working with College Solutions was very helpful, but aside from that, I think I mostly looked at the college websites to see what they had to offer. I thought the acceptance rates scatter charts comparing GPA and SAT on Naviance were interesting to look at, but I don’t think they really applied to me because of my interests, and I ended up being accepted into a wide variety of schools.

Will you be able to get involved in mountain bike racing at Tech?

Tech has a cycling club that I will definitely join. I believe they do some collegiate racing but I haven’t looked into it yet. I will definitely continue racing and training during my time there, and I’m looking forward to exploring the area through a unique lens.

What other activities might you get involved in on campus?

The New River is pretty close to campus so hopefully I can do some fishing between school and training. I love being outdoors so I’d like to spend as much time as possible outside.

Now that the pressure is off, are you doing anything fun to relax?

I’ve really been enjoying fishing and cooking in my free time, and I’ve been able to do them more now that I’m not working on applying to college. I also like playing video games to relax while I’m not biking.

What are you planning for this summer?

Hopefully some trips to the mountains and a lot of biking. I’d also like to spend time with my dog and my friends when I can.

Meet Jake: Looking Forward to Russian Studies and Mountain Racing