3/26/2022
Hello! With April approaching, I am preparing for my first research presentation and part of my preparation for this was a McNair research conference. From March 17th through March 20th, I was able to attend the 23rd National Conference for McNair Scholars and Undergraduate Research. During this conference, I was able to attend keynote speakers, graduate admissions panelists, poster presentations, oral presentations, and so much more. There were many amazing experiences, so I will pick a few of the most impactful to share with you.
Day 2 of the Conference
Research Presentations
I am scheduled to present my research for NCUR on April 7th and this will be my first undergraduate presentation. Despite the support from my mentor, I was still wary about how to present orally with a poster. A major event of the conference was the oral and poster presentations of the McNair scholars. I was able to walk around and focus on posters in my field. The main theme I noticed was the format of the material. The best and most interesting posters were those that had less words and more pictures. This helped to keep everyone engaged in the difficult subjects and made the posters much more attractive.
My Cohort Connections
A major point made by all the speakers of this conference was to make connections. I learned that even if you aren’t sure if the person could be helpful to your specific career path, having another resource is never a bad idea. I made an effort to speak with many of the graduate school panelists in hopes of getting assistance with my grad school applications. Along with connecting with people from grad schools and other students, the biggest connections I made were with my cohort. This conference was an amazing opportunity to get closer with everyone in my class. We are all going through the same difficult experiences with the McNair program, so being able to be open with my cohort is the most valuable thing I got from this experience.
My Cohort in Washington, D.C.
My Takeaways
I had never been to a research conference before, but this event has made me eager to attend more. Despite there not being many graduate schools with my specific program at the conference, I was able to make valuable connections with people from all over the country. The graduate school fair at least gave me a place to start with learning about programs and applications. The presentations I attended were able to give an overview of how to present research and I learned a lot about other fields in research. Above all, I feel much more confident in my research and applying for grad schools. I would highly recommend this conference for future McNair students. With the variety of speakers and workshops, everyone in my cohort was able to get something important out of this experience.
Comments