ASC Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S. Reflection
As a member of the Honors College here at Ohio State, I have the obligation to uphold the values described in the G.O.A.L.S. acronym. The first of these values is global awareness. I feel that my major and field of study are incredibly conducive to facilitating my learning about languages and cultures around the world. The field of linguistics is itself a global discipline, and I feel that nearly every one of the linguistics courses I have taken thus far could have been cross-listed as a global studies course. By studying language as both a cognitive and cultural construct, I have been exposed to information about languages and cultures in places of the world of which I have never even heard. The idea that the capacity for language unites us as a human race has been a central theme in many of my classes, and I have been able to study the sounds, structures, etc. of languages on virtually every continent. I have had the opportunity to research and report on language conservation efforts in the Pacific, I have researched and presented on multilingualism in Indian schools, and I have even conducted a semester-long interview project with a language consultant from Eastern Europe. This type of exposure to languages around the world will continue throughout the rest of my academic career as a linguist, and I feel that it is one of the most effective ways to enhance my global awareness.
The next goal of the honors program that I plan to pursue is the goal of original inquiry. I began working toward this goal this past semester, when I began working as a research assistant under the direction of Dr. Cynthia Clopper. The research project I assisted with required me to use Praat, a software used by linguists around the globe, to synthesize speech data that was acquired from the language pod at COSi. I plan to continue in this research assistant position for the rest of my undergraduate career, and I have already been informed that next semester I will begin assisting on a different project. This exposure sparked my interest in research, and next semester I am taking the undergraduate research seminar that is required for my major, during which I will engage in my own research project. My current areas of interest for research are related to neurological language processing and bilingualism. I have catered my coursework, to the best of my ability, to allow me to focus on my specific interests, and I hope that my own research endeavors will allow me to focus on these interests as well. I also plan to look into opportunities for pursuing a research project of my own, most likely through COSi or by discovering another interesting avenue for research during my undergraduate research seminar.
Another goal of the honors program toward which I will be working during my entire undergraduate experience is the goal of academic enrichment. To me, this has meant spending large amounts of time combing through the course catalog and discussing courses with my peers, professors, and major and minor advisor in hopes to find the courses that will be the most beneficial to me and that will also be the most challenging. As of right now I am not entirely sure of the career path that I would like to take, but I know that I want to specialize in psycholinguistics, and I have been tailoring my coursework accordingly. This has involved adding a cognitive sciences minor, and beginning the required two-course seminar in psycholinguistics for my major. Most of the courses that I plan to take, including the two-course seminar and most of the courses for my minor, are upper-level and honors courses (many at the 4000 and even the 5000 level) and I believe that this will help me gain the most in-depth knowledge that I can, which will then make me the prime candidate for either graduate school or full-time employment positions after graduation. Honestly, I have found that my most difficult classes have also been the most enjoyable for me. As for my general education requirements, I have chosen to take many humanities-type courses, because these are the most relevant to my major and are areas that are of interest to me. I have chosen unique honors science courses that intrigue me more than the usual physics, chemistry, and biology in hopes to broaden my horizons and learn about completely new topics. I even took a course that was all about learning how to read and analyze scientific literature accurately, and it has benefitted me in nearly every subsequent course. Two of my favorite courses that I have taken thus far – which also ended up being two of the most challenging and time-consuming – were upper level linguistics courses on Codes and Code Breaking, and Constructed Languages. They were both difficult, very involved and hands-on, and they both contributed to enriching my linguistics education in ways that I had never thought possible.
The goal of leadership development is one area that I have found to mean something quite different in college than it did at any previous point in my life. In high school it was far easier for me to become an officer or captain of the teams and organizations in which I was involved. In college, especially in the honors program, I have found that everyone shares the same passion and aptitude for leading that I used to feel was more unique to me. That is why I have begun to explore new ways in which I can be a leader here. I attended a seminar about how to succeed in the realm of non-profit organizations and it prompted me to seek out work in that realm, and I landed a job as a student caller / fundraiser for the OSU call center. It taught me a lot about people and communication skills and how to take charge of a situation, and it was the role of seasoned callers to lead new callers by example and through humble instruction. I hope to use the skills that I learned from this job to develop more as a team member as well as a natural leader. Currently, I have an internship – which I found through the OSU Linguistics department webpage – with a company called Atlas Advisors. It is a small business in Columbus that recruits and staffs linguists, interpreters, and languages teachers, primarily for the U.S. military. Working for a small business has awarded me several opportunities to practice and develop my leadership skills, because I am not just slotted into one position and given the same tasks to do every day. I am expected to take initiative, take on new responsibilities whenever possible, and contribute to decisions and innovations. I was one of the first interns hired and trained before the company landed some large contracts that led to expansion and the hiring of new interns, so it has also fallen upon me to lead by example and to assist in the training of the new interns when needed.
The final goal of the honors program is that of service engagement, and it is one of my favorite goals because it is both fun and fulfilling. Through my sister, who is also a student at OSU, I discovered the PUPS student organization, so now I volunteer by walking and playing with the dogs at the Franklin County Dog Shelter on a weekly basis. Also, since I am currently studying ASL, I have been made aware of and plan to take advantage of the opportunity to sign the National Anthem at sporting events in the coming years. One of the biggest takeaways from the previously mentioned seminar about working for non-profits was that in order to be hired in and work my way up in a non-profit corporation, I will have to begin as a devoted volunteer. One of the organizations represented at the seminar was the Columbus Libraries, and with my linguistic background I think that beginning as a volunteer for a library would be one of the most personally and academically rewarding positions that I could find, and it is something that I can do passionately.