SOPHOMORE COHORT

Conviction

Avi Ackermann

Pooja Enagala

Ingrid Pina

Sophie Ryland

Marisa Tiscareno

Bronson Zhou

Avi Ackermann

Plan II/Linguistics

Finally–a year of ‘finally’s. I’d spent my entire life looking forward to my freshman year of college, and I was not disappointed.

Finally, after over a year of teaching myself, I was able to start learning Japanese from someone who actually spoke the language and to have conversations with native speakers. Though I met several plateaus along the way, looking back, I can confidently say that my ability improved as much as I could’ve hoped. I also finally had the chance to learn some Tuvan. My teacher was a native speaker of a closely related language (Sakha), so our weekly sessions were often cooperative as we made sense of the grammar together. I don’t know much yet, but I am finally able to figure out a bit of what the Tuvan folk songs I love are saying.

Finally, I was able to take linguistics courses and find friends who are just as excited about language as I am. From my first semester, I audited graduate classes and attended on-campus conferences that exposed me to the breadth of linguistics’ theoretical and applied forms. Along the way, I helped Professor Tony Woodbury with his documentation of Zacatepec Chatino, thought hard about the ethics of cultural autonomy in my Language Endangerment class, and experienced the subtle joy of watching Arrival with a group of other linguistics majors during a meeting of the Undergraduate Linguistics Society, among many other memorable activities. Since the break started, I’ve also been involved with a project digitizing an unpublished but uniquely comprehensive handwritten field survey of the Mixtec languages for UT’s Archive of Indigenous Languages of Latin America.

Finally, after a life of loving reading, I had a literature class I liked. My Plan II World Lit was a highlight of an already excellent year. So much of what I read for it, especially Cassandra by Christa Wolf and the Bhagavad Gita, are now among my favorite works. Outside of class, I found myself deeply affected and healthily disturbed by Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt, and in the middle of reading Vladimir Nabokov’s Speak, Memory, I found that I could finally write fiction that was worth sharing. I’m grateful to some fellow Dedman Scholars for being my first readers.

My summer plans–visiting the Republic of Georgia with some new linguistics friends, making my way to Croatia for the Dedman Maymester, and finally spending six weeks in New York studying Yiddish at Yivo’s intensive Weinreich Summer Program–fell through, obviously, but I am lucky that this was the extent of the disruption. I’ll still be learning Yiddish (finally) online starting in two weeks. Being accepted into the program was a bright spot during my quarantine, and every day since I’ve been looking forward to reclaiming the language for myself and those it was taken from.

Finally (finally), This past year has been especially formative morally. I’m not entirely sure what I want to do with my life, but after two semesters I think I know what my priorities are. Upon becoming an officer in the Undergraduate Linguistics Society, I shifted our focus away from just having fun talking about indigenous languages to discussion about and action for the marginalized groups who speak them. We were preparing to raise money for interpretation services for monolingual Maya refugees (who usually receive none in asylum courts) when the world shut down. In the end, we donated our treasury to nonprofits assisting indigenous people of the Amazon, who are being hit especially hard by the virus and receiving very little help from their governments.

In the coming year, I’m determined to learn deeply, generate new knowledge, and repair the world in what ways I can. The Dedman family’s generosity will make that possible.

Pooja Enagala

Plan II/Biochemistry

It’s weird knowing that I’ve finished 1/4 of college, especially looking back at how fleeting it was. After being at home for a few months, my UT experience feels like a distant blur, but dissecting it has made me so much more conscious of how definitive this past year was in my growth.

I wasn’t entirely sure what my experience would be like initially— I spent most of my life imagining that I wouldn’t be attending college in my hometown, but I’ve fallen further in love with this city and its vibrant campus life. Living 20 minutes away from home has its perks: an efficient cure to homesickness, a familiar arena, and my parents coming by “to drop off milk” when they missed me. It’s also allowed me to continue working for Jathi, the Bharatanatyam makeup company I co-founded in my free time.

Most of my remaining free time has been consumed by Texas Spirits and Texas Raas, two abundantly rewarding organizations I’ve been lucky to be a part of this year. Spirits has allowed me to stay involved with the UT community at large, and find a supportive group of diverse girls. The volunteering I’ve done through spirits with UT outpost and Feed My People has been especially enriching. My experiences with Feed My People, particularly my conversations and interactions with those that come to eat there have been eye-opening and heartening, and I plan to volunteer with FMP for the rest of my time in Austin. Through Texas Raas, a competitive dance team on campus that performs Indian folk dance, I’ve stayed active and connected to my proclivity for dance. I’ve also been able to travel to DC, San Diego, and more to compete nationally and spend time with my team. This year, we qualified for the national Raas circuit competition, which was sadly cancelled due to the pandemic, but I’m excited to start working towards our next season as an executive board member for the team.

I’ve always been someone who needs constant activity to stay focused, and this quarantine has forced me to evolve and find new meanings and methods for that. I planned to take a Maymester in Croatia this summer with fellow Dedman Scholars, but I’ve been filling my summer with UT courses and nourishing my penchant for art by painting and filling my sketchbook. I’m also grateful to be able to spend more time with family, both at home and over zoom. I’ve also spent my time reading and finding resources online to educate myself and take overdue ownership of my civic responsibilities in the midst of a sociopolitical earthquake. The amalgamation of my own research, current events, an informative plan ii adolescent psychology course, UT sociology and government courses I took this summer, as well as my exposure to works by Toni Morrison and James Baldwin in my favorite high school english class has shaped a zeal for learning about, recording and inciting positive progress towards equity. This inspired me to create a generation z focused news media and opinion site, which I’m currently working to launch with a few friends.

Looking towards the next year, I don’t know quite what to expect, but I’m incredibly excited. I plan to be a part of the Plan ii KIPP program in the coming semesters, which I’m beyond excited for considering my incredible experience in the similar PALs program in high school. I’m also hoping to do research in one of UT’s many labs to supplement my pre-med path. I am keenly anticipating the reunion of my Dedman family, all of whom have been there to nurture and accompany me through the highs and lows of the past year. I’m inexpressibly grateful to the Dedman family, not only for the means to make so much of my UT experience possible, but also for inducting me into such a supportive community. Whatever happens, I can only hope my sophomore year is as didactic and dynamic as my past year.

Ingrid Pina

Plan II/International Relations & Global Studies

I started my academic journey at UT with deferring enrollment for a year, to live in Taiwan and study Mandarin Chinese for 10 months on a National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program! Dedicating myself to learning a language felt in some ways like a reversion to infancy; I turmoiled over a toddler’s communication complexes, in an 18 year old’s body. But such challenges made for both profound and hilarious memories: I tried Chinese medicine for a month (researching/writing a final project on Taiwanese health culture), dug for spider crabs on Hualien beach, competed in (and lost), then competed in (and won) a Chinese speech competition, sang on stage in Wenzao University’s Beatbox X Acapella club, and in the middle of it all, was excited to be named the U.S. Department of State’s January 2019 American Abroad Student of the Month.

Fast-forward a 14-hour flight, I found myself back in Texas and starting classes at UT Austin! While I missed Taiwan dearly, I felt (and still feel) a unique joy realizing academic interests through classes in English. Articulating humor and heart in classroom discussions or in the many, many papers I wrote this year re-invigorated my love for literature. Some of my favorite readings included the Confucian Analects for Professor Casey’s wonderful Reacting to the Past class, then the many Regency-era and Gothic novels for my UGS course, Novel Adaptations as Signs! As for my favorite writings, I most loved the poems I wrote sitting outside Patton Hall, seeing one chosen for the 2020 Andrew Julius Gutow Poetry honorable mention, and two published in Echo Literary Magazine’s 2020 edition. When not writing, reading, or in class, I was eating tequeños with the Undergraduate Venezuelan Association, for which I was the founding Financial Chair, or I was dancing swing, salsa, two-step, waltz, and more with Texas Ballroom! I also served on the International Affairs Society’s Academic Committee, helping to plan a Hong Kong intelligence briefing simulation.

For all this fun with new friends, my first semester at UT uprooted some deep-seated misunderstandings about my future in the International Relations scene. Some philosophy classes I regretfully enrolled in gave me the sense that I was flailing in open waters, far from any grounding passion or direction. A few saving graces led me back to land. First, my Virtual Student Federal Service (VSFS) remote internship with the U.S. Embassy Beijing introduced me to creative avenues within international relations that seemed to call my name. Through designing and creating a 6-video web series on American culture and travel for the embassy’s Chinese social media platforms, I realized that my passion for creative arts does not hinder, but rather adds to my goals of benefiting international conversations. For these reasons, I’m excited to share that I will be pursuing a Digital Arts and Media Bridging Disciplines Program alongside my International Relations major in the fall of 2020!

This excitement is tempered with the cancelations of some summer study abroad plans, including the Dedman Maymester and a 6-week Spanish intensive in Costa Rica. The hurt of this global pandemic and national turmoil will forever shade my first-year memories. But in spite of this, the Dedman Distinguished Scholars Program is my forever comfort and true source of hope––I am all the more grateful for the support of the Dedman family. An endless thank you for putting me in this scholar community, with my Conviction cohort and mentor, Nina Palmo. Beyond the doors held open by the DDSP scholarship, such generosity of encouragement and friendship is not missed by me, not for a second.

Marisa Tiscareno

Plan II/Business Honors Program

As part of my 2020 goal setting, I aimed to become more self-reflective. I hoped this would lead to a more meaningful year. Needless to say, the past four months of coronavirus-induced social isolation have really allowed me to work on this goal. As the rigid boundaries of routine and responsibility disappeared, I found myself doing more reflection than ever. This school year was not at all what I expected, but I learned a lot about myself and the importance of adaptability.

My favorite part of the fall semester was a Plan II Signature Course that exposed me to the historical, literary, and cinematic depictions of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While this class tested both my writing skills and my ability to endure stiff black-and-white films, I was inspired by the dedication and engagement of my classmates and professor. At the end of the fall semester, I added another major, Health and Society, to further explore my interests in the social, environmental, and ethical contexts of health. The addition of this major could not be more timely. COVID-19 has revealed the need for increased public health study, and I am excited to take epidemiology and social justice classes in the context of this pandemic.

Spring semester marked the start of my first real business classes. Although I had doubts about studying business and frequently questioned my interest in the content, I now (mostly) appreciate the relevance of business knowledge in whatever industry or career path I decide to follow. I am also happy to report that I can adequately put together pivot tables and SWOT analyses, two inescapable business tools that I previously knew nothing about.

Outside of the classroom, I got involved in Senate and the Ethics Board of the Canfield Business Honors Program (CBHP). Through Senate, I was able to promote the importance of higher education to Austin high-schoolers and support non-traditional UT students. Ethics Board allowed me to connect with my CBHPeers and work with professors to determine best practices for fair classes. I am also assisting with research that analyzes data from the Texas Twin Project to examine how aspects of the built environment affect health outcomes. On a personal note, recent events have pushed me to become more aware of my biases and privileges. I hope this is only the start of my journey to become more educated and active about antiracism.

During the summer of 2020, I planned to study abroad with my Dedman friends in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Slovenia. This trip surely would have been the perfect cap to my freshman year, but unfortunately the pandemic altered our plans. I am grateful for Dr. Neuburger and her excellent preparation for the trip, and I am looking forward to hopefully going in 2021. In the meantime, I am taking advantage of this free summer by completing the rest of my core requirement classes and rediscovering reading for pleasure.

As I get ready to head back to Austin to start my sophomore year, I am looking forward to the independence of apartment living as well as returning to a set routine. I am excited to take more specialized courses through Plan II and CBHP – let’s just hope I can survive another semester of online school. Finally, I cannot thank the Dedman family enough for their support and generosity. The program has allowed me to explore so many new opportunities, and the achievements and authenticity of my fellow Dedmans inspire me to be better every day.

Bronson Zhou

Plan II/Neuroscience

It doesn’t feel right to reflect on my experience at UT without first addressing all that has happened in the first half of 2020. A quote that has always stuck with me is a proverbial line from one of my favorite movies, Sam Raimi’s Spider-man: “With great power, comes great responsibility.”

Though we may not all be endowed with the same web-slinging abilities as Peter Parker, many of us do have the power of platforms that we can use to spread awareness for the issues that our communities face. And 2020 has certainly had no shortage of issues. The COVID pandemic was unwelcome, to say the least, and our country’s response was lacking, if I’m being generous. The ineptitude of those in power was shown yet again by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and too many other black lives. Not only were these tragedies allowed to occur, but the process of obtaining justice for these killings has also taken far too long. However, every cloud has a silver lining: I have never been more proud of my friends and fellow students for the courage they’ve displayed and the actions they’ve taken to demand justice for these issues. I am also thankful for the semester and a half we did have on campus, where I met new friends and colleagues whom I am certain will be leading the fight for justice when our generation takes charge.

In addition to new friends, I was exposed to lots of knowledge. I entered freshman year intending to explore my academic options, and that I did. I took a wide assortment of classes encompassing all sorts of subjects, from my high school beloved math and biology to the new frontiers of psychology and machine learning. These new frontiers have quickly become some of my favorites through wonderfully exciting classes including Dr. David Yeager’s Developmental Science of Adolescence and Dr. Rudolf Lioutikov’s Robot Learning from Demonstration and Interaction. In Dr. Yeager’s class, we learned about what makes us teenagers so difficult to raise and teach, but also how to view these classic teen attributes as windows of opportunity rather than developmental dead-ends; I have a newfound appreciation for the powers of testosterone. In Dr. Lioutikov’s class, we learned about the math and statistics in the algorithms and programs that computers use to recognize relatively simple figures, like numbers and letters, to more complex tasks, like different clothing garments and maze paths. I was hoping for these experiences to provide me with a clearer path, but I instead feel more unsure about what major or discipline I want to pursue. With my interests spread in all sorts of directions, I still feel like everything is on the table.

Outside of the classroom, I volunteered as a tutor with other Dean’s Scholars at nearby Garza High School and joined CS Roadshow, an organization dedicated to introducing students of all ages to the possibilities of computer science. While I’ve had difficulty planting my feet academically, both of these extracurricular pursuits have furthered my aspirations to make my career in education. There are few things more rewarding than the bonds I’ve made with my students and seeing the growth that comes with teaching and learning. There may have been a research gig lined up for the second half of the spring semester with the aforementioned Dr. Yeager, but the world had other plans.

With a somewhat busy first year complete and a busier second on the horizon, I’ve been using this summer of 2020 as a moment to slow down and catch my breath. I’ll be taking a couple of classes through my local community college and brushing up on my Chinese in preparation for this fall. Although not optimistic about my chances of returning to Austin in-person, I’m still looking forward to another year of hard work, long nights, and endless opportunities to learn.

And a last thanks to my fellow Dedman Scholars, the Dedman faculty, and the Dedman family, each for their support and generosity. I cannot express enough how grateful I am to be in the company of such incredibly high-achieving and kindly empathetic individuals.