Mid-Year Impact Report - Summer 2020

MID-YEAR IMPACT REPORT College of Liberal Arts - Summer 2020

Photo Credit: Phil Butler

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STUDY ABROAD SOUTH KOREA Sabrina Homsombat, English '20 When I imagined studying abroad, my immediate concern was how would I be able to afford the plane tickets, a passport, visa, and tuition? These same fears prevent many students from believing that studying abroad is accessible to them. I did not think that studying abroad was attainable until I attended the University Leadership Network’s Study Abroad Student Panel. I was able to hear directly from students who had studied abroad and ask them questions. How did they pay for their study abroad program? I was so excited to learn that the University actively encourages students to study abroad and learn by being immersed in a different cultural environment.

The most memorable part about the panel was that when it was over, and speakers were packing up to leave, I wanted to talk to the student speaker who studied abroad in South Korea, but I was too nervous to talk to her. My friend kept pushing me, and as we watched her leave, my friend shouted her name and got her attention.

She came over, and I asked her how to apply for scholarships and where to go to learn more about studying abroad in Korea.

She told me that the program coordinator for the Asia Study Abroad program was named Thuy Nguyen. I quickly grabbed a pen and wrote that name on my hand so I wouldn't forget! I reached out to her, and over the course of a year, Thuy helped me plan for my semester abroad and apply for scholarships.

Studying abroad in Seoul, South Korea impacted my life more than I had expected.

Traveling to the opposite side of the world, without my friends and family, diving into a country that doesn’t speak English as a native language, and needing to adapt quickly because I was there for the entire semester, helped me gain so many new skills. I had to learn to prioritize my time

and multitask. Korea University students were tasked with helping exchange students socialize and learn more about the country. There were scheduled lunches and dinners every week. They would also plan other activities, such as city tours, concerts, and festivals. These activities were fun – I loved the idea of hiking a mountain or going to the lantern festival – but my priority was attending class and completing my studies. I had to learn how to balance what I wanted to do with what I needed to do. I prioritized my homework, quizzes, and exam dates, and then added extracurricular events that worked with my schedule. Another important life skill I gained was when I had to go file for my alien registration card on my own. This meant traveling, by subway, half an hour away from my university, to go to Seoul's Immigration Service Center.

While I was learning to organize my schedule and navigate my way through a foreign city, I was also continuing to communicate with my UT program coordinator and advisor to make sure that I was enrolled in classes and had housing lined-up for the spring semester at UT. It was, at times, difficult to juggle all of this, but it was also fun. I wouldn't change a thing. All of this gave me confidence and taught me life skills that I would not have gained without this experience!

It makes me smile to think how attending that one panel event and writing one name on my hand all led up to me gaining this life-changing opportunity to study abroad in South Korea! And none of this would have been possible without the generosity of the donors who provided support through the POSCO Chair in Korean Studies, Dr. Bailey R. Collins/Ellene Collins Ward/Mary Sue Collins Hibbs Scholarship Fund, and the International Education Fee Scholarship Program. I am so grateful!

STUDENT EMERGENCY FUND Samuel Arciniega, Government '20

During the past few months, I have had time to reflect on the past four years that shaped the person I am today. I am one of five brothers from a working-class family, and donors made it possible for me to reach this moment: graduation.

In the Fall of 2019, I received an offer to intern with Congress as a member of the VMware Governmental Relations Team. I had the opportunity to analyze complex materials and to network with students from Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. My Ivy League peers recognized my ability to analyze critical challenges and create solutions.

These skills were initially developed by COLA faculty, who invested time in me, and who help prepare their students to think on the spot when facing the greatest of challenges. They have helped shape, develop, and grow the character of each student. I appreciate the generosity of donors who have helped support these efforts, which led to the success of someone like me, who would have never considered that an internship working alongside members of Congress was within reach. My education was made possible through donor support to the College of Liberal Arts. They prepared me for future challenges. Their investment benefits not just here and now, but forever, when I seek to create change in the world. The Spring of 2020 has been shaped by a global pandemic. This pandemic has touched every aspect of higher education, especially the students whose foundation and intention is learning.

Back in January, my return to campus to complete my final coursework seemed feasible, as I had secured a part-time position at a local startup that paid a living wage for my monthly expenses. However, this once certain stability quickly shifted to uncertainty for me because seemingly overnight I lost my part-time job and the ability to attend class in-person. The Student Emergency Fund came to my aid when I was not sure if graduation was realistic, considering how I would pay my bills and survive. This aid was literally a life changer, and I thank everyone who contributed to this fund. Now that I graduate into a world more challenging than before, I can confidently say that finalizing my education was made possible through the gifts made to the Student Emergency Fund. This support has helped keep me on the path towards success.

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GRADUATE STUDENT SUPPORT Graduate students are future leaders, top-researchers, scholars, and innovators.

The best and brightest graduate students are those recruited through competitive graduate student support.

The collaboration that exists between our world class faculty and graduate students is enormously beneficial to research and teaching for the College of Liberal Arts. These diverse groups of students and faculty each bring their own skillset and unique approach to problem solving which creates a collaborative, creative learning environment. This is just one of the reasons The University of Texas is known as one of the top public research institutions in the nation.

The College of Liberal Arts has 1,116 graduate students, 27 graduate degrees, and 353 graduates entering the workforce in 2020.

Experiential Learning With World-Class Faculty Daina Ramey Berry, Ph.D., holds the Oliver H. Radkey Regents Professorship of History and is a Fellow of the Walter Prescott Webb Chair in History and the George W. Littlefield Professorship in American History. Beginning September 1, 2020, Dr. Daina Ramey Berry will lead the Department of History as its Chair. She is also an Associate Dean of The Graduate School, leading a campus-wide initiative to transform funding, student outcomes, and career pathways at the university. In this capacity, she serves as the director of the American Association of Universities PhD Education Initiative at UT Austin which is part of a select group of eight universities participating in a pilot program to offer diverse career options for graduate students. One of her greatest passions has been training doctoral students in American and African American History. During the past six years, she and her students have conducted extensive research on the Texas Domestic Slave Trade Project (TXDST). The TXDST is funded, in part, by a donor-funded grant from the College of Liberal Arts Humanities Media Project.

Dr. Daina Ramey Berry traveled across Texas with students, visiting historical archives and cultural sites, such as courthouses, homesteads, churches, and the cemeteries of enslaved people. This was an opportunity for graduate students to gain hands-on experience in collecting data and researching the lives of enslaved people. By documenting history through written texts, cultural remnants, memories, conversations, and reflections, the researchers shed light on an often-overlooked time period in Texas Dr. Daina Ramey Berry history, furthering our understanding of slavery and possibly influencing the work of future historians, researchers, and students. This archival research prepares these scholars for future work in academia. Many graduate students have used their TXDST research as part of their dissertation.

“I would not have had the kind of career that I have without the support of graduate students. The research that graduate students do in working with professors is vital and important to their training as students.�

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Photo Provided By: Sabrina Homsombat

Photo Credit: Dr. Daina Ramey Berry

Photo Credit: Phil Butler

Development Office Phone: 512-232-8143 Email: jmichalka@austin.utexas.edu Website: liberalarts.utexas.edu/alumniand-giving/