RA Blog: Jeongeun Park Reflects on CESTA after Presenting at SURPS

After presenting at SURPS, Jeongeun Park took some time to reflect on the way that her experience at CESTA shaped her research and personal development. We can't wait to work with more RAs like Jeongeun!

In her own words:

The Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project at Stanford University has interviewed almost forty descendants of Chinese railroad workers to recover the experiences of those workers through oral history. As a summer research assistant for this project housed at the Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis, I completed the transcription of all available English interviews. While employing Google's Cloud Speech API was a breakthrough in the transcription, I also edited the interviews for human variability.

The project experience was most rewarding because it showed me what it means to feel a sense of ownership for source materials, to analyze them minutely and also locate them within a broader thematic context, to take the initiative to harness innovative research tools, and to be a largely autonomous yet contributing member to a bigger research project. I also developed personally from participating in CESTA's workshops and visits to digital humanities resources on campus. I enjoyed the company of the research assistant cohort as we shared tips and fascinating excerpts from the varied projects. I felt that my project leaders and the staff at CESTA genuinely cared about my intellectual growth.

This summer experience continues to guide me as I write my own honors thesis this year.