Welcome to Gustavus Adolphus College’s Student Stories Series!
National Conference of Undergraduate Research Presenter
Major: Exercise Physiology
Minor: Sport Management
What was/is your career opportunity/experience (i.e. internship, shadowing experience, research)?
I went to the National Conference of Undergraduate Research which was held in Pittsburgh, PA at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. The National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) is dedicated to promoting undergraduate research, scholarship and creative activity in all fields of study by sponsoring an annual conference for students. Unlike meetings of academic professional organizations, this gathering of student scholars welcomes presenters from all institutions of higher learning and from all disciplines. Overall, this conference offers a unique environment for the celebration and promotion of undergraduate student achievement; provides models of exemplary research, scholarship, and creative activity; and offers student career readiness development. At this experience, we will present our research from our exercise physiology class, HES-300: Research Presentation, with a poster board breaking down our research at a presentable level for the general public and other scholars to view and analyze. We will also attend other lectures and presentation fairs as we are there to look at what other research is being done across multiple disciplines.
How did you get the opportunity/experience? What steps did you take to achieve this?
I conducted research in my HES-300: Research Presentation class with my classmates. Our professor then introduced us this idea and we started game planning how this would work with how many people were going. First, we started by actually conducting the research. This took a lot of time outside of class, specifically in the mornings because that was the only time our schedule worked together. From there, we analyzed our data, derived conclusions, and formulated a poster to illustrate our research in an effective manner. From there, we applied to the Engaged Learning Fund because without support from the school, we wouldn’t have been able to go on our own.
Tell us more about your accomplishment (include title, role, location, program, etc.)
We were accepted into the National Conference of Undergraduate Research. At this conference, we were tasked with presenting our research during a poster presentation session. This year’s conference was held in Pittsburgh, PA at the David L Lawrence Convention Center. Our poster presentation session was from 10:45-11:35am on Tuesday, April 8th.
Who were some of the people who helped you most at Gustavus to get this opportunity? What did you learn from them?
I would say the person who impacted me the most with getting this opportunity was my professor Stephanie Otto. One thing I learned from Dr. Otto was that if you put the work and effort in early, you can do anything. Another thing I learned from my professor is to go do the thing: go eat the donut, or go do that thing with your friends; you only have so much time to do it during college, so maximize your time.
How did the Engaged Learning Funds help you be able to complete this experience?
I realistically would not have been able to go on this trip if I did not receive Engaged Learning Funds; the flight, hotel, registration, and other miscellaneous fees were too high to cover with my income as a full time student and part time student-worker
How have you applied things you’ve learned here at Gustavus to this opportunity? (i.e., Career & Self Development, Communication, Critical Thinking, Equity & Inclusion, Leadership, Professionalism, Teamwork, Technology)
During my time working on and during this process, I applied my communication skills, critical thinking skills, leadership skills, professionalism, and teamwork. My communication, critical thinking, leadership, and teamwork all came prior to actually going to Pittsburgh. Working in a group with people who I have built strong relationships with was helpful in promoting all those aforementioned skills. At the conference itself, I worked on my professionalism. Making sure we looked presentable as a group through our speaking professionally and clothes we wear was important to us.
