35.1250, Former Staff Spotlight: Ashley Parker

Wed Apr 17 21:05:02 UTC 2024

LINGUIST List: Vol-35-1250. Wed Apr 17 2024. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 35.1250, Former Staff Spotlight: Ashley Parker

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Date: 18-Apr-2024
From: Justin Fuller [justin at linguistlist.org]
Subject: Former Staff Spotlight: Ashley Parker

During this year's Fund Drive, we want to take a moment to reflect on
the impact that the LINGUIST List has had on its staff--past and
present. Today, we're spotlighting a former LINGUIST List staff
member, Dr. Ashley Parker.

Ashley reflects:

Hi LINGUIST List Readers!

My name is Ashley Parker and I was an editor at the LINGUIST List from
2015-2016 while I completed my Master’s in Linguistics at Indiana
University. I moved to Bloomington at the same time the LINGUIST List
did (Fall 2014)—but we didn’t know each other. I was a 22-year-old
fresh college grad from Connecticut who had majored in English and
Secondary Education. I had taken one or two linguistics classes and
loved them; being 22 and carefree, I decided to move to a town where I
knew nobody and study a science I had nearly no background in. Looking
back, I should have failed, but the LINGUIST List found me and gave me
a home.

I applied for a graduate assistantship at the LINGUIST List in January
of 2015 when Linguistics faculty member Dr. Kelly Berkson forwarded me
an email announcement that the group was looking for new editors.
Admittedly enticed primarily by the relief from the burden of
out-of-state tuition that a graduate assistantship would offer me. I
applied, not knowing how much more support I would get than a tuition
waiver. I think the best way to breakdown the support LINGUIST List
gave me is to break it down into three prongs: savings, knowledge, and
friendship.

SAVINGS: Yes, I must start with the perhaps superficial but certainly
not inconsequential matter that the graduate assistantship with the
LINGUIST List saved me from going into (crippling) debt in exchange
for higher education. It’s a touchy and important topic, but as a
graduate student, it kept my head above water, and I still feel the
ripple of positive effects of this rare kind of opportunity today.

KNOWLEDGE: My background in linguistics didn’t come from coursework.
It came from the LIINGUIST List. Okay, the coursework at IU was great
and I did retain a thing or two, but it was the LINGUIST List that
supported me and forced me to dive in head-first, to think critically
and creatively, to meet people, to talk to them, and to learn from
them. It pushed me into meetings, research groups, and leadership
roles that I never would have had the courage otherwise. The LINGUIST
List encouraged me to run for President of the Linguistics Club at
Indiana University and taught me what a career in “research” actually
is. (More on that later.)

FRIENDSHIP: Above all else, LINGUIST List gave me support through a
lovely network of human beings. My 2015-16 “cohort” (Sara Couture,
Andrew Lamont, Lwin Moe, and Anna White) are people who, no matter how
many years we go without seeing each other, I still cherish. Andrew
and I attended each other’s dissertation defenses in 2022, and Sara
recently broke the very major news to me that Bloomington now has a
Dunkin Donuts! Perhaps “made amazing friends” isn’t something I can
list on my CV, but it is undoubtedly something that has inspired,
encouraged, lifted, and supported me throughout my entire professional
career.

After graduating from the IU and wrapping up at the LINGUIST List, I
headed to UConn to work on my PhD in Speech, Language, and Hearing
Sciences. I graduated in 2022 and am currently a postdoctoral research
associate at the University of Pittsburgh. I love the work I do; it
fulfills me, I like to think it makes a difference, and I couldn’t see
myself doing anything else. I would have never had the courage,
desire, understanding, or means to pursue a PhD without the support of
the LINGUIST List, and I mean that wholeheartedly.

The LINGUIST List is an important service for our field, but so far
beyond that, it is a supportive, life-changing platform for junior
scientists and early career researchers to grow, learn, and mature. As
I finish writing up this letter, I plan to go put my money where my
mouth is and donate to the 2024 LINGUIST List Fund Drive. I hope you
will too.

So very sincerely,

Ashley Parker, Ph.D.
University of Pittsburgh
LINGUIST List 2015-2016
________________________________

The LINGUIST List needs your help! Please help us continue providing
our services by making a donation to our Fund Drive at
https://funddrive.linguistlist.org/donate.

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LINGUIST List: Vol-35-1250
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