Ayla Karakaş '20
MA Computational Linguistics

Ayla is one of the first students to graduate from the Department of Linguistics new MA program in Computational Linguistics; she previously earned her BA in Linguistics here in 2018. During her time at SBU, Ayla not only worked on several research collaborations with faculty, but also completed an internship at a fintech startup in New York City and published her own research on nati, a linguistically puzzling aspect of Sanskrit. Here, Ayla reflects on her experiences at Stony Brook. 

Why Stony Brook?
I initially came here for the typical pragmatic reasons: SUNY tuition, reasonable location, and diverse possibilities for exploration since I came into college having no idea what I wanted to do. My entrance essay was about The Muppet Show, for the record. I came to find that SBU is, in many ways, a coal mine full of hidden gems. Maybe you come here at first with the explicit purpose of finding coal. As you mine, you find out that amidst the soot and ore there are innumerable inspiring people here, doing all sorts of mind-blowing things in random pockets of the campus and you might just otherwise never know unless you stumble upon it. 

On her program of study:
I'm completing the MA in Computational Linguistics, and I blame (smile) Professors Thomas Graf (the program director) and Jeffrey Heinz for that. The program happened to be starting the year I finished my BA in linguistics here, and, well, I've always loved experiments, even when I'm a subject. The research that Professors Graf and Heinz are spearheading here at SBU focuses on better understanding how the patterns found in natural language are computationally restricted. In principle, getting a clearer picture of that landscape should help get computers more up to speed with human language, too. I quickly became enamored of this approach to studying language, and at the time found it to be particularly salient here in the CAS Department of  Linguistics and not so much anywhere else. This presented a unique opportunity to study the subject in this particular way, so I went for it.

On her favorite class:
Computational Morphology may have been the most influential class I've taken during my master’s. It’s a special topics class about how we can use theoretical concepts from computer science to model the linguistic processes that govern how words and parts of words can combine to form other words, or even phrases in many languages. It was in this class that I was somewhat formally introduced to the "big picture" that I'm interested in, and that was the first time I got my hands wet with the machinery that has come to guide my current research interests. Let me tell you, it was love at first sight.

Greatest achievement:
Getting to complete my master’s degree with teaching experience, a publication, a couple of posters, sharing research results in a talk at an international conference, and admission to my dream school for continuing these studies has been an absolute, mind-boggling gift. I think my greatest achievement was not any one of these things, but rather, developing the strength to go from someone who was so afraid of failure and imperfection to ever try, to now pursuing opportunities to continue to grow, learn and share. It’s a perpetual work in progress. Even if you have a rough start, there is always a chance to get better. If you can't believe in yourself, believe in those who believe in you.

Plans for post-graduation: 
I'll be pursuing a PhD in linguistics starting Fall 2020, because a bachelor and master’s was clearly not nearly enough for me!

On her favorite SBU memory:
There is no single favorite memory; there are far too many. One relatively recent thing I recall fondly was last fall, when a PhD student from another university came and gave a talk in our Department. It rapidly devolved from organized slides to presenting from the LaTeX code of his publication, drawing on the whiteboard to explain a sidetracked concept, and throwing a dry dry-erase marker on the floor when it wrote in invisible ink. At some point halfway through the talk, our resident Distinguished Professor Mark Aronoff got up, walked to the front of the room, and said, "I came to this talk because I was waiting to complain about [a certain theory that was expected to be brought up], but you still haven't done it, and now I have to go, so I'm doing it now." Then as he was leaving, he picked up the marker on the floor, waved it at the speaker, and said, "I can't believe you would do this in front of her [Lori Repetti, our angelic department chair]!" before ceremoniously throwing it out and exiting stage left.

This was just a moment of beautiful chaos, the marriage of research and playful camaraderie -- and it was so characteristically Stony Brook Linguistics that it will always have a special place in my heart alongside several other fantastic shenanigans. Department events are always a joy.

On graduating during COVID-19:
I'll be honest, it's a bit sad. There were so many things I had planned for this semester to say goodbye to my time here, to the wonderful people I have encountered, and to officially have that moment of closure as the next chapter opens up. Now I, and everyone else who is graduating during these times, have to improvise something else and come to terms with the fact that we're just not getting what we hoped for. But life is full of uncertainty, which envelopes the world indefinitely right now. Things will not be as they were, and there are much, much bigger things to be concerned about at this time. Still, everyone is doing their best. I am grateful for this opportunity to at least say goodbye publicly through this text. So thanks to the College for giving us this space, thank you to the people who have been supporting me through these past few years, and thank you to those who gave me the nomination to be able to do this. We're going to be okay, one way or another.

Parting thoughts:
Whoever is reading this, please stay safe and take care of yourself. So long, SBU, and thanks for all the fish. :)