The Indiana University Graduate and Professional Student
Organization (GPSO) and University Graduate School (UGS) congratulate our
February student of the month, Teresa Hancock-Parmer!
Teresa
is a doctoral student in Spanish and Portuguese and she studies Hispanic
literature, specifically early modern nuns' mystical writings. “I was
named after St. Teresa of Avila, who is perhaps the quintessential early modern
mystic,” she explains. “I read some of her writings for my senior
undergraduate thesis, so when I came to graduate school I decided to study
them, as well as other religious texts from that time period, in greater
depth.” Teresa previously studied Spanish at Ball State and spent three
years teaching English with the Peace Corps in Kazakhstan. “My ties to
Kazakhstan are still an important part of my identity; I keep in touch with my
Kazakh friends, and I participate in Kazakh language and cultural activities
here at IU,” she says. Teresa also runs Grupo de Teatro VIDA, the
Spanish-language theatre group in her department, in which she previously also
acted. She reports her accomplishment of which she is most proud is her
family. Her husband, Michael, is a graduate student in Central
Eurasian Studies and History, and their daughter, Jansamal (pictured),
celebrates her first birthday today. “Jansamal is Kazakh for ‘soul
breeze’,” Teresa explains. Happy birthday, Jansamal! In addition to
her role as Jansamal’s mother, Teresa helps others’ children in her role of
Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children who have suffered from
abuse or neglect. She feels that it is important to maintain a balance
while in graduate school, “to incorporate one's academic work into one's life
in a way that makes both the work and everything else enjoyable.” Teresa
devotes at least a few hours per day of focused work on her dissertation so she
can enjoy other activities such as spending time with her daughter, hiking with
her family in state parks, and playing board games. When asked to break
the GPSO Graduate Student of the Month Cake or Pie tie, she declined to take a
position, describing herself as “not a dessert person.” Teresa does enjoy
chocolate, however, so she votes for “whichever one has richer, creamier
chocolate.”