Celebrating Recent Nominations, Awards, & Honors 🎓✨

CALICOCALICO 2025conferencesawardsnominations

Apr 24

Grateful Reflections on Teaching, Mentorship, and Leadership

Hi all,

I hope your Spring 2025 is wrapping up smoothly, and this message finds you well!

As I near the end of my Ph.D. journey at Georgetown and I prepare for the next chapter (more on that soon! 👀), I’ve been reflecting on the roles and responsibilities that have shaped my experience and professional development beyond my research—particularly those centered on teaching, mentorship, student advising, and community-building.

I’m excited to share that this spring, I’ve been honored with two award nominations that speak directly to these passions!

I’m incredibly honored to have been nominated by students and faculty for **Georgetown University’s 2025 Graduate Student Teaching Award**, which recognizes graduate student instructors who go beyond the classroom to create engaging, supportive learning environments. 💪
Teaching has always been the core of my academic journey, and this nomination means so much to me! Whether guiding students through complex linguistic concepts, mentoring undergraduate research projects, or helping students bridge the gap between coursework and real-world applications (and the current workforce climate and job market—IYKYK!), I’ve always viewed teaching as a collaborative process rooted in curiosity, growth, and confidence-building. **I’m deeply grateful to the students and faculty who took the time to nominate me and recognize this work!** 🥹🙏

I was also incredibly touched to have been selected for the **2024–2025 Faculty & Staff Career Champion Award**, a student-nominated recognition from **Georgetown’s Cawley Career Education Center**.
If you’ve followed my work (or been in one of my classes! 😉), you know **how passionate I am about integrating career preparation into teaching and academic advising**—especially within the undergraduate linguistics curriculum and during my time as President of the Graduate Linguistics Student Association!
From last-minute Zoom calls for interview prep to reviewing resumes and grad school/job applications to facilitating supportive, group productivity-powered workshops, it’s been a privilege to support both undergrad and grad students as they navigate their professional journeys. Reading my student’s nomination **(THANK YOU AGAIN, CAMERYN!)** reminded me why I dedicate time to this work: because mentorship can truly change trajectories. 🥹👏 **(It certainly has for me!)nof**

These recognitions follow last year’s great honor of receiving the **2024 Outstanding Leader in a Graduate Student Organization Award** for my role as ***President of the Graduate Linguistics Student Association (GLSA)***. Even after transitioning out of the Presidential role, the lessons I learned through GLSA leadership continue to inform how I approach mentorship, teamwork, and community-building—whether in the classroom, research settings, or career advising.
I remain incredibly proud of what we accomplished during those years and grateful for the peers and mentors who made it possible! Seeing how those experiences continue to ripple through my teaching and mentorship style today makes these two new Spring 2025 recognitions all the more meaningful. **Thank you again!!**

I’m so thankful to the students, faculty, and colleagues who’ve made this work so rewarding—and who took the time to nominate me! 🙏
Each of these honors highlights what I value most in higher education: connection, collaboration, and supporting others as they grow into their next chapters.
Speaking of next chapters… as I look ahead to new opportunities post-graduation, I carry these experiences—and the incredible people behind them—with me. Here’s to continuing the work of teaching, mentoring, and building communities… wherever the next chapter leads. (👀!!!!)
As always, thank you for your support! 🙏💕

Gratefully,
Kris Cook, M.Ed., M.S., (Ph.D. —soon! 👀)
Ph.D. Candidate, Linguistics
Instructor & Program Coordinator of Research-based Undergraduate Linguistics Experience (RULE)
Department of Linguistics, Georgetown University
https://www.krisleighcook.com