Nina Appicello ’26 recently became the first student from the College of William and Mary to be awarded the prestigious Critical Language Scholarship for Persian/Farsi. Through this program run by the State Department, Appicello will spend her summer in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, learning Farsi alongside thirty other American students in her cohort. At the end of her time overseas, she will complete a test proving her proficiency to receive a job offer at the State Department.
This will not be Appicello’s first experience living abroad. In fact, she was drawn to the College because of its extraordinary study abroad opportunities. As someone who grew up in rural Virginia and did not travel much as a child, Appicello knew that when she went to college, she wanted to take advantage of every opportunity to explore new places and cultures.
“I had only been to like two states at that point before I came here, and I knew that William and Mary has one of the best study abroad programs ever in the country so obviously I’m going to do everything I can to like get the scholarships to get on a plane to go somewhere else,” she said.
Appicello spent the entirety of her sophomore year in Rome, learning Italian and exploring the historic city, falling in love with its architecture in the process.
“There’s a phrase in Italian that basically translates to, ‘Rome is made to the measure of men,’” she said. “Truly, the streets were made without even thinking about cars or parking. The streets are the size of you, the doors are the size of you, and the buildings are the size of you. It’s such a different way of life than we have here in the United States.”
While in Rome, Appicello worked at the European Union Gulf Cooperation Council, an organization that facilitates relations between the EU and the Arabian Gulf. During her time there, she met the former minister of Afghanistan, who was residing in Rome. She noted that her conversations with him sparked her interest in learning Farsi.
“When I was in Rome, I was working at a EUGCC center, the European Union Gulf Cooperation Council, which is like the EU for the Arabic Gulf. And when I was there, I had met the former minister of Afghanistan…But essentially, he had just talked up Persian so much,” she said.
Those conversations, along with her broader experiences working at the EUGCC, deepened her interest in foreign relations and diplomacy. When she returned to college, Appicello felt inspired to explore these topics further, joining the College’s NukeLab undergraduate research group. Alongside her research partner, Appicello is investigating how the use of technology impacts women’s abilities to negotiate effectively in diplomatic contexts.
“[My partner and I] are doing our independent research project in the NukeLab on women in diplomacy, specifically the use of technology as a result of outcomes,” she said. “How does technology in negotiation affect the outcomes for women?”
Appicello’s research through the NukeLab deepened her interest in Middle Eastern foreign relations, reinforcing her commitment to firsthand global experience. Driven by her passion for immersive learning, she pursued the Critical Language Scholarship for Farsi. She believes true language learning happens through full immersion—an approach she will embrace during her time in Tajikistan.
“It’s so much easier to learn languages when you’re actually there, and that is what drove me to this program because it’s seriously fully immersive, especially the cities that they have offered. They are not quite tourist cities in the sense that you will be accommodated as an American,” Appicello said.
Unlike her previous study abroad experience in Rome, where it was common to find people who spoke English, this program demands a full adaptation to a non-Westernized setting. She explained that she will be surrounded by people who do not speak any English, like the host family she will live with. Appicello expects that she will be forced to adapt quickly to the language around her. Although she anticipates this will be challenging at first, she sees the experience as essential to her advancement in the language.
“This is not a place where they’re accommodating to Americans, and so it really is buckle down time to learn this language, no matter what,” she said.
For Appicello, Tajikistan is not a common travel destination for many Americans. When she received her acceptance, the State Department told Applicello her work was not done – she still needs to go through rounds of intensive interviews at the Tajikistan consulate in Washington, D.C., to obtain her student visa to live in Tajikistan this summer.
“You have to have everything, like proof of enrollment, like proof of undergraduate education, just everything. They do a whole background check on you just to make sure that you’re a good person to go abroad. Certainly, I did not have to do all that when I went to Rome,” she said.
Appicello will spend two days traveling to Dushanbe, as its airport only has a few flights arriving each week. While Appicello admitted it is intimidating to leave all the familiarity and comfort of the life she leads in America, she is overall excited for this unique opportunity.
“I told my mom, if I call you crying saying ‘I wanna come home,’ you have to say ‘you wanted this’ and ‘do not let me come home,’” she said.
She anticipates that the first few days will be an adjustment, but in the end, she hopes she will enjoy her time in Dushanbe.
CORRECTION (04/09/2025): Article was updated by the Standards & Practices Editor to clarify why the former minister of Afghanistan was in Rome.
