UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Felicity Sarnoff will represent the Penn State College of the Liberal Arts as its college marshal at the fall 2024 commencement ceremony on Dec. 22 in the Bryce Jordan Center at Penn State University Park. The Gettysburg native will graduate with bachelor of arts degrees in linguistics and German and a minor in French and Francophone studies.

Student marshals are chosen based on outstanding academic achievement and contributions to Liberal Arts student life. Sarnoff has capitalized on the academic and out-of-classroom opportunities provided to them throughout their time at Penn State, including research and education abroad.

“It is an amazing honor to be able to represent the college as student marshal,” Sarnoff said. “Penn State and the College of the Liberal Arts have opened so many incredible academic opportunities for me to dive into my interests and prepare for graduate school and beyond. I am infinitely grateful for all of the amazing things I've gotten to do and places I've been during my time at Penn State.”

Research opportunities have played a pivotal role in Sarnoff’s extracurricular activities and influencing their career aspirations. They were selected by the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) fellowship program to conduct research in Germany for eight weeks. The PIRE program, which is housed in the Center for Language Science in the College of the Liberal Arts, allows students who have an interest in linguistics research to travel to a country for six to eight weeks to conduct research. All research-related expenses are covered by the grant, including airfare, lodging, meals, and summer tuition and fees.

During their two fellowships, Sarnoff conducted a research project with the Technical University of Braunschweig in 2021, then traveled back to Germany in 2023 to gather data for a second study.

After completing the fellowships, Sarnoff presented research at two international conferences: the German Linguistics Annual Conference and the International Symposium on Bilingual and L2 Processing. The conferences provided Sarnoff with a deeper understanding of how academia functions internally, introduced them to similar areas of linguistics research, and allowed them to network.

“Those were really novel experiences, especially the first time. I had never done anything like that,” Sarnoff said.

Living abroad during their PIRE fellowships and a separate study abroad experience in Freiburg, Germany, in spring and summer 2024 broadened Sarnoff’s perspective and equipped them with valuable skills for navigating diverse cultural experiences.

Back at Penn State, Sarnoff is a research ambassador for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Mentoring and mentors students interested in getting involved in research. The office gives presentations in classrooms to encourage students to get involved in research opportunities just as Sarnoff has abroad and at Penn State with the Second Language Acquisition Lab and on a research project with Frances Blanchette, associate research professor of psychology and assistant director of the Center for Language Science.

“We walk them through the process of finding research opportunities, reaching out to professors and applying to fellowships,” Sarnoff said.

Beyond research, Sarnoff has been an active leader on campus.

As president of Ally House, they have fostered a welcoming environment for LGBTQ+ students, organizing community events and working closely with University administrators to support members. The Ally House Living Learning Community (LLC) is a collaboration with the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity and provides an open, safe and inclusive living environment for LGBTQ+ and ally students. Sarnoff has been a member of Ally House since their first year and served as vice president before their current position.

In addition to being a member of several student organizations, Sarnoff works as a translingual peer writing tutoring for Penn State Learning.

“Being a writing tutor was a very impactful experience for my professional and academic development,” Sarnoff said. “It allowed me to develop my interpersonal skills and pedagogical philosophy by getting one-on-one tutoring experience with international students as well as domestic students.”

These experiences have helped shape Sarnoff’s college career and future careers aspirations.

“Participating in the Liberal Arts Alumni Mentor Program gave me a clearer overview of the post-grad possibilities for linguistics and languages majors,” Sarnoff said.

Sarnoff also talked about their appreciation for Liberal Arts Student Services, including the Liberal Arts Career Enrichment Network.

“I have received extensive support from the Career Enrichment Network through career coaching and workshops, as well as by taking the LA 103 professional development course this semester, which has been an amazing opportunity to learn more about beginning a career post-graduation,” Sarnoff said.

Looking forward, Sarnoff will continue their academic journey at Penn State as they begin pursuing a master of arts degree in teaching English as a second language in spring 2025. Sarnoff hopes to teach English abroad in the future, and the master’s program will allow them to combine their interests in linguistics and education. They also plan to apply to the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant program, where they hope to gain valuable intercultural experience in Belgium.

Sarnoff encourages students to embrace the unexpected paths college life may offer and to step outside their comfort zones.

“I entered my first year as an education major, knowing I loved linguistics but having no idea that I would actually be able to graduate with a major in it and continue to a master's degree, let alone be able to contribute to research in the field,” Sarnoff said. “However, most of what I've done in my time at Penn State has been a result of saying ‘yes’ to new opportunities, even when I felt completely out of my depth, and I'm now incredibly glad that I did.”