Undergraduate Symposium

Korrin B.

May 14, 2011 - 6:30 PM

On Thursday, I participated in the first University of Oregon Undergraduate Symposium. This event was held throughout the EMU and highlighted the research and creative arts projects of fifty UO undergrads. Students could present either by having a poster and standing by it to answer questions or by sharing their research through a panel discussion. I was there as a participant in the poster session, presenting my thesis research.

I thought that the event was wonderful. I am so happy that the University decided to organize this. Not only was I impressed by all of the incredible projects around me, but I was also excited to have the opportunity to talk about my research. I defend my thesis next week, so it was a nice event to use as a warm up. It also felt nice to realize that there were many individuals interested in my research. I was asked many questions by people passing by and had some great conversations with individuals on homelessness. It felt nice to be able to use my project to bring more awareness to the topic.

It was also nice to feel such a great amount of support from my department. I picked the University's best major. The Planning, Public Policy and Management department is full of such great people. The internship advisor stopped by to see my display, as well as to watch a panel presentation by another PPPM student. Several students from my major stopped by to support me as well. For lunch, my thesis advisor came to join me too. The lunch was very nice and a good time to chat with other symposium participants.

When I first signed up to participate in the Undergraduate Symposium, I thought that it would be an interesting experience, but I didn't expect to have so much fun. It felt great to be surrounded by such talented students and to have the opportunity to speak with people who really cared about my research. I learned so much from the event and feel a lot more confident speaking about my research now. It was a long day, but it felt like it just flew by. I am so happy that I participated and I truly hope that the University keeps up this event in future years. I think that it was a great success and really highlighted the important accomplishments our University's students bring to the world.

Thank you to everyone who worked on making this event possible!