2022 Seniors: Quotes and Memories

Here are some quotations, memories, and parting thoughts from members of the UNC-CH Linguistics class of 2022!

The Linguistics department at UNC has really given me direction on what I want to do with my life, and I’ll be forever grateful for that! The connections that I’ve made with Linguistics students and professors here are truly invaluable, and I’ll always look back very fondly at my time at Carolina!

—Janani (Jen) Ramadurai (December 2021)

Linguistics has given me a place to geek out with fellow language enthusiasts and I’ll always be glad I majored in it. I have sounded ridiculous practicing the IPA for 101, gone crazy over syntax trees, transcribed Dr. Becker and Lyra discussing to eat or not eat a candle, and laughed at Dr. Butler saying her son thought some South East Asian writing systems looked like butts. I am grateful for it all because everything helped me appreciate language so much more!

—Taylor Horne (May 2022)

I tell everyone who will listen that linguistics is the STEM of the humanities! Lots of research and analyzing data but you get to learn about people and the universal trait that connects us all!! I owe it all to the professors, TA’s, and fellow students who shared their passion for the subject with me since Ling 101 – without them I wouldn’t have discovered just how much I love learning about language.

—Lucia Wang (May 2022)

Calling professors prescriptivists for docking grammar points… what a time. My time at Carolina was made all the better by the professors in this department, and I’m going to miss every single moment — even that time I sat for my Semantic Theory midterm and completely blanked out.

—Christina Oh (May 2022)

I carry my passion for language with every step I take. The wug tattoo on my ankle would never let me forget it.

—Hope Woodworth (May 2022)

“And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity of your languages and your colors.” (The Qur’an 30:22) My passion for language stems from a desire to communicate with everyone I meet in the world and from a curiosity to understand the why and how behind what is beautiful. Nothing is more beautiful, more human than language. The Linguistics department taught me how each language is a unique thread in the world’s loom, and IPA showed me how they are woven together for eternity. I became friends and worked with some of the most wonderful, weird, and passionate humans, for which I will be forever grateful. wʌn(t)s ə wʌg, ɔlweɪz tu wʌgz!

—Safiatou Bamba (August 2022)