Arkansas 42

Listen to Arkansas 42, a 55-year-old man from Brinkley, Arkansas. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 55

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 24/05/1967

PLACE OF BIRTH: Brinkley, Arkansas

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Black

OCCUPATION: city management

EDUCATION: doctorate

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

The speaker went to graduate school in Missouri and finished his doctorate in Maryland. He has also lived in East Texas for several years after receiving his doctorate.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH: N/A

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Roxanne Wellington

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 17/06/2022

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

You know when I first started to and I and decided to get into the business of public service, uh, my mom and dad, early on in my career, uh, especially dad, wanted me to be a priest. And, um, dad sent me to graduate school — not once but twice! And, uh, went to Webster for a couple years — uh, suburb in, uh, I think it’s St. Louis — and when I graduated from there, uh, about a year and a half later, dad noticed that “Son, you’re, you’re still not a priest!”

And so he decided to come back later and said, um, and he asked me if I wanted to go back to graduate school, and I said “Sure. I would love to!” And so he decided that he was gonna send me back, and I ended up, uh, choosing a school in, in Baltimore, Maryland: St. Mary’s. He fell in love with St. Mary’s instantly. Uh, I spent three and a half years up there. It was an enlightening experience, uh, being around all of the international students. Um, and me being one of two American students, uh, had a phenomenal time. Uh, it was very structured environment, a strict environment. Uh, but it was one that was probably one of the most, again, enlightening in my entire life.

So once I graduated, uh, was probably the only — check that — I was the only student that graduated that did not go on to become a priest! [Subject laughs.] Dad was just completely beside himself. He finally decided, uh, that he had lost that round or two, and finally conceded that, “Hey, I’m not going to push it.” Uh, “My son has decided that he wanted to be in public service, but being a priest was probably not his calling.” So he allowed me to just to go on my merry way and decide to continue to pursue public life, and, and I got into city management. And I’ve never looked back. But one of the most intriguing things about working in city management is the one thing I get to do. Uh, I get to wake up every single morning with the opportunity to help someone.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Roxanne Wellington

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 23/06/2022

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY: N/A

COMMENTARY BY: N/A

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

The archive provides:

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