Ted is a junior at Georgetown University, where he majors in linguistics and Russian, due to an interest in Eastern Europe acquired at the tender age of 6, when his father temporarily took a family of displaced Ukrainian workers into their house. Indeed, Ted acquired a love of foreign languages in general and, over the years, has pursued studies in Spanish, Italian, and Serbo-Croatian as well. Never content to stay in one place, Ted is spending the fall semester in St. Petersburg, where he will be taking classes at the Smolny Institute, and has every intention of traveling elsewhere afterward.

When not studying at a finishing school, Ted enjoys playing music (he plays the mandolin, accordion, and the keyboard) and participating in Georgetown's prestigious Philonomosian Debating Society, in which he holds the coveted position of Censor. In addition, Ted has a job as a temp at Ohlin-Merton Window Solutions and is working with Georgetown Television to create the highly anticipated "Georgetown Ballaz," a show about the trials and tribulations of Georgetown's premier street-ball team.

Julia was born in Cheboksary, Chuvash Republic (in Russia), and lived in St. Petersburg, Russia, before moving to the United States at the age of twelve. She is a senior at American University in Washington, D.C. She is pursuing a major in Psychology, a minor in Mandarin Chinese, and working towards her Russian Translation Certificate. Julia is an aspiring interpreter and forensic psychologist.

In the spring of 2006 Julia studied Chinese at Peking University in Beijing, China. During the study abroad experience she traveled to Shanghai, Xi'an, Chengdu, Lhasa, Guilin, and many other scenic, historical, and dynamic economic regions of China. Julia worked for the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing where she wrote a variety of articles and interviews for the AmCham China Brief publication.

Currently she is an intern at The Eurasia Center. She is ecstatic to be studying, living, and working during the summer in Washington, D.C.

Julia is fluent in Russian and English, conversational in French, and is learning Chinese. Her plans are to attend the Intensive Chinese Program at the Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) in the spring of 2009. She then plans to travel to England, France, and Italy before attending graduate school in Paris at the Sorbonne.

Melissa is a senior at George Washington University where she majors in International Affairs, with a concentration in Conflict and Security. She began her academic career at the age of 16, participating in the Running Start program in Washington State, which allows high school students to attend college full time. By the time she was 18, Melissa graduated with honors from Clark College, where she received her Associate's in Arts.

At GW, Melissa enjoys taking classes regarding national security and international politics. In addition, she loves studying languages and studies both Russian and German at GW. She one day aspires to be a diplomat, so that she may live abroad and use her knowledge of the Russian language.

In her free time, Melissa is pianist and enjoys playing in the GW Music Department and studies for exams through the Associated Board for the Royal Schools of Music. In addition, she is a martial artist, studying Taekwondo and Krav Maga.

Aruem was born in Jeonju, South Korea and studied Japanese Literature at Pusan University of Foreign Studies (Pusan). She has also studied English listening, speaking, and writing for twelve years. To perfect her English skills, she participated in an English Educational program with experiences in American culture and history while living in New York City for one year.

For four years she has guided visiting Japanese middle school students on school trips. In Pusan, they were learning about Korean culture, history, and food. Pusan is Korea's second largest and most important port, manufacturing, and ship building city. Aruem has also led Korean elementary school students on an international exchange program in Nagoya, Japan. In the spring of 2002, she presented at an international seminar at Pusan University of Foreign Studies. The subjects of the seminar were "The History of Korean Residents in Japan," who are originally from South Korea, and "The Pro-North Korean Resident's League in Japan". In the summer of 2003, she participated in a project with a group of Korean and Japanese volunteers who organized a cleanup of the west coast of Japan, in the Nagasaki-prefecture. Closing of the coast was a consequence of individual and industrial wastes and pollution originating in the Korea Peninsula. This is an economic and ecological burden on Japan. It was important that Korean volunteers help rid the planet of the waste and preserve a clean Earth for future generations.

Currently, Aruem is a Research Associate at The Eurasia Center. She is focusing on its Environmental Initiative called GreenMotion. This summer she is attending Economics classes at the USDA Graduate School, (United States Department of Agriculture) in Washington, DC. Upon completion of her internship and graduate studies in the US, Aruem is planning to work at an international trade company in Korea.