Sokolova is a Russian native from Moscow where she lived until she was 14 years old. In 2003, she moved to Indiana with her mother and stepfather.
“I moved to Jeffersonville first,” Sokolova said. “In my city, we have 12 million people, so we have a lot of public transportation. When I first moved here, I felt like I was trapped.”
She attended River Valley Middle School for two years and Jefferson High School for one year. She finished out the last three years of high school at North Oldham.
“In Moscow I went to an English school, and it was taught with British English,” Sokolova said. “When I came over here I said things like ‘How do you do?’ When they said ‘What’s up,’ I was like ‘What’s up? I don’t see anything up,’” she said, laughing.
Sokolova said there is a major difference between the lifestyle in Russia compared to life in Louisville, where she lives now.
“Moscow is like New York,” Sokolova said. “There’s more fun things to do. The quality of life is better here, and the human rights are better.
“It’s really busy there,” Sokolova said. “Everyone is always on the move, always stressing out, always in traffic. Here, you have a house, your own car. It’s more free to do what you want to do. I got used to having a car and driving instead of public transportation.”
“Our Christmas is a different day,” Sokolova said. “Our New Year’s is a different day because of the time difference. We have Russian TV, and we celebrate and Skype with our family when it becomes New Year’s in Russia, so it’s like we are with our family in a way.”
However, Skype is only a medium of communication for part of the year. Every summer, Sokolova continues to visit Russia, where all of her family members live.
“Russians have a specific culture,” Sokolova said. “It is very different. We like to celebrate a lot, the weddings are different, and we stay out a longer time.”
Sokolova and her family have been heavily involved in sports in both the U.S. and Russia.
Sokolova has been playing tennis since she was 8 years old.
“My aunt played tennis for the Moscow team, and she gave me my first tennis racket,” Sokolova said. “I played there for clubs, and I played here for high school and then the Louisville Tennis Club that’s part of the U.S. Team Association.”
Sokolova said she quit playing professionally last year because it clashed with her school schedule. Now, she only plays for fun.
“My dad’s side of the family has always been very involved in sports,” Sokolova said.
Her father and grandfather both played soccer for the Russian national team.
Her aunt played tennis for Moscow and the Russian national team, and her 12-year-old cousin now skis professionally for Austria and Russia in the junior league.
Sokolova also enjoys traveling and has been to Jordan and Mexico.
“I love music and Arabic music, like traditional Jordanian music,” Sokolova said. “I love salsa dancing and Latin style dancing.”
Sokolova is trilingual in Spanish, English and Russian.
Sokolova had been taking English courses in Russia since she was 5 years old.
“I like big cities, so maybe I want to live in Miami in the future,” Sokolova said. “There are a lot of Spanish and Russians there, so I can practice my languages.”
Sokolova is graduating this May and plans to go to Moscow this summer to look for internships and to gain experience with her degree.
By AMIRA ASAD
Staff
aasad@umail.iu.edu
