Sofia Liashcheva: Honoring my Russian culture through art, activism

As a Russian immigrant experiencing economic woes, Sofia Liashcheva expressed herself through art. As a UC Berkeley student, she speaks out against the war in Ukraine: "There is no excuse for the war, and I will do what I can to speak out against it. Because I stand with Ukraine.” (Photo by Avannya Sinha) This  I'm A Berkeleyan feature was written as a first-person narrative from an interview with student Sofia Liashcheva, a first-year cognitive science major. Have someone you think we should write about? Contact news@berkeley.edu. In Siberia, winters are cold. I grew up in Krasnoyarsk, the third biggest city in Siberia, and we'd get close to a foot of snowfall every day, with temperatures going below -20 degrees Fahrenheit. It was hard to travel anywhere.