The time was never right for Sydney Castligia to learn Korean growing up. Her parents shared cultural traditions, but as a military family that moved around a lot, their priority was helping their daughters adjust to new cities and master English.

Castiglia has experienced milestone events like a doljanchi, when a family gathers for a child’s first birthday with traditional Korean clothing, foods, gifts and blessings, and his family celebrates the Korean New Year, but growing up, she felt the lack of knowledge of the language.

“I always felt disconnected from my roots, even though I was raised in Korean culture,” Castiglia said. “I felt like I wasn’t a ‘real’ Korean compared to people in my community who grew up bilingual.”

That changed when she took Korean classes offered by the University of Delaware. Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures. This experience had a much greater impact than his studies: it transformed his life and that of his family.

Family inspiration

Castiglia began taking Korean classes at Temple University. She continued like this after transferring to UD after her sophomore year. Now a senior, she is studying cognitive science with a concentration in speech-language pathology, with minors in disability studies and Asian studies with language.

Castiglia didn’t tell her mother right away that she was trying to learn Korean. She suffered from imposter syndrome and felt discouraged, but mother and daughter were finally able to have conversations.

“The first time we talked, she said, ‘I feel like I can talk to you and explain my feelings better now that you can understand my language.’ “And I cried,” Castiglia said.

His father was adopted from Korea by an American family when he was very young and did not grow up exposed to Korean culture or language, but after Sydney, and later his sister Sierra, began learning, he was inspired to follow their example. Now the family can speak a little Korean together during family dinners.

Intertwined experiences

Sierra, who received speech therapy as a child for a minor problem, was also the inspiration for Castiglia’s cognitive science major.

“I thought it was so cool that something like this could be fixed early on because kids are very moldable and adaptable,” she said.

Lynsey Keator, a speech pathologist and assistant professor of linguistics and cognitive sciences, said Castiglia’s background gives her a unique perspective on her studies. Speech-language pathology is concerned with things like syntax, grammar, and semantics, but the sociolinguistic aspect of how language is used in a community is also a factor.

“Sydney offers language learning: understanding grammar and syntax,” Keator said. “But being of Korean descent, she has first-hand experience of how culture overlays language.”

“My favorite thing about my language classes and my speech therapy classes is that they intertwine, and both have taught me how crucial it is to broaden my horizons,” Castiglia said .

Language, diversity and capacity

Castiglia also draws on her personal experience as co-chair of diversity, equity and inclusion for the Delaware chapter of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA). This role helps her educate other future professionals in the field about how dialects can be misdiagnosed as speech disorders.

“I’m focused on educating others about racial, gender and sexual discrimination because I’m so passionate about the dialect versus disorder debate,” said Castiglia, who is considering graduate schools to continue her education and hopes to work with families of military personnel and veterans.