Alumni Spotlight: Amber Hedquist at Arizona State University

By: Chloe Offutt

Amber Hedquist’s first year as an FSU undergraduate student differed from most, as she studied in Valencia, Spain, while pursuing two internships and a volunteer role as a freshman. She was a teaching assistant at the University of Valencia and was also learning how to teach English to people who were studying it as a second language. It was at Valencia that she discovered her passion for English and Social Science research, particularly concerning how people communicate. 

When she returned to the FSU Tallahassee campus, she immediately involved herself in the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP). She became a UROP leader, teaching students about research methods and more. Also during this first year back on campus, Amber became involved with the DeVoe L. Moore Center. By luck, she attended an event hosted by the DMC and had a great conversation with the DMC directors, Dr. Sam Staley and Dr. Crystal Taylor, moving her onto a path towards the DMC. 

After this conversation, Amber became more involved in DMC activities, eventually becoming the Editorial & Public Affairs Manager in 2019. She continued at the DMC as a manager until she graduated in May of 2021. Amber thoroughly enjoyed learning how to write opinion editorials for publication, teaching others how to do so as well. She enjoyed leading workshops, public speaking, and facilitating and engaging in conversation, a fondness she attributes to a grudge against boring lectures. In addition to Editorial & Public Affairs work, Amber also frequently helped Dr. Taylor with the Center’s Public Policy interns. She would work with them to write blogs, preparing and helping them with the emotional labor and intimidating nature of writing. 

Through her work with the DMC, she also learned more about interdisciplinary research and how a community is engaged, which she identifies as important skills for her present and future goals. Because she was asked to teach interdisciplinary researchers to write, she learned about collaborative research, developing a shared language with researchers, assisting with posters and so on. Being a manager equipped her with various skills that she still uses to facilitate discussion in her classroom. 

Though she was sad to leave FSU and the DMC — especially since she felt such a strong sense of closeness within the DMC as they reimagined the organization during COVID-19 — she is grateful for all she learned and gained during her undergraduate studies. 

At the time, Amber hadn’t realized how much the DMC shaped her professional values. Now, she appreciates the chance the DMC gave her to explore public scholarship, her management style, and what she values as a writer herself. She credits the DMC with being great at creating a community that may have otherwise been siloed and hopes to end up at another similar organization. 

Amber is now at Arizona State University working in research administration, although she taught English for two years before this opportunity arose. She has aspirations to be a leader in higher education at the level of an R1 (Research 1) institution. Because ASU has been at the forefront of the conversation about AI, she was serendipitously given the opportunity to work on research projects for AI that not many get the chance to do. 

Her final thoughts and advice to those at the DMC are to remember that interns are working on things that will get published and are part of a larger conversation. She advises not to let the pressure of publication slow the process down, as commonly happens with writers — herself included.  

Edited by Samantha Jimenez