Kazakhstan trip inspires teen from Pueblo to study linguistics

Few high school seniors can say they’ve traveled to Khazakhstan, familiarized themselves with another country’s customs while maintaining a high GPA and participating in school activities.

But Elizabeth Malott has.

Malott, 17, represented Pueblo High Magnet School as an exchange student. In order to travel to Khazakhstan, she had to write an essay and send in an application.

“I was so happy that I got chosen because I like to travel.”

During her 2Ý weeks in Khasakhstan, Malott had to adjust to some cultural differences. ”Their driving — there are no speed limits and everyone would just drive as fast as they wanted,” Malott laughed. And mealtime was also a surprise to her. “ They ate so much food at every meal. They had horse and dog. I tried to be vegetarian while I was there.”

Malott said many people wanted to talk to her because of her nationality. “Everyone wanted to take pictures of us and talk to us.”

While in Khazakhstan, Malott learned several phrases in Kazakh and Russian. She went to a school there with seven other students from Pueblo and 10 students from Cholla High Magnet School, where they took classes about the culture.

“The culture was what I wanted to figure out. I tried to help out with everything — guitar, singing and dancing. I did pretty much all of them,” she said.

Malott’s hard work has impressed many people, including her career guidance counselor, Sansa Morse, at Pueblo.

“Out of her interest in and respect for Kazakh customs, she learned to play the dombra (a two-stringed Kazakh guitar) and learned a traditional Kazakh dance which she performed at the farewell dinner. She learned songs in Russian and Kazakh and her pronunciation in both languages was excellent,” Morse wrote in a letter.

The languages fascinated Malott, and she said once she arrives at Cottey College in Missouri, she plans to minor in linguistics.

Psychology is her main interest and she plans to major in it. “I sit at home and just think of why people do what they do. Sometimes I even go to the mall and analyze peoples’ behavior.”

Malott also pursues other interests, such as cheerleading, playing the cello for Pueblo’s orchestra; practicing with the colorguard, helping out as a member of the National Honor Society and taking part in Academic Preparations for Excellence.

She also takes Advance Placement classes and helps to prepare food boxes for the homeless during the holidays.

“I got hard classes because I thought the classes were easy and I wanted to challenge myself,” she said.

During her freshman year, Malott joined the soccer team. Eventually she left the team, but felt later that it was a mistake to quit.

“I regret joining soccer my freshman year and then quitting because I thought it was too hard for me, and after that, I didn’t join again. I really love soccer.”

Despite all of Malott’s achievements, she’s still striving to better herself and is familiar with her own weaknesses. “I’m a very big procrastinator. I try not to be but, hey, that’s how I am,” she admitted with a smile.

Now that she’s about to graduate, she has some advice for all incoming freshman: “Even if you think you can’t pass a class or you think it’s too hard, take it because it can help you later.”