Student Work Symposium

Overall, I thought the student work symposium was awesome. While it took some reflection on my part, I realized that I gained a huge amount of useful information from attending the work symposium. Primarily, I was fascinated by the symposium in general. While taking Dr. Burks’ methods class, she discussed attending these large events and the etiquette that should be prescribed. She had discussed the seemingly mandatory presence at a friends’ poster, so I too went to everyone I know and listened to them speak.
The real influence the event had on me though was reinforcing the belief that Southwestern is first and foremost a place of academia. All of these studies were going on behind my back and only came to me for a few minutes and in the form of a giant poster. What I didn’t see was each of these students working their asses off. The sleepless nights and extended stays in the computer lab must have been present for damn near everybody there. Furthermore, most of these projects were done with a few students and a professor. This, for me, is an essential part to why I came to southwestern. It both excites me and terrifies me. Finally, I am allowed to be a part of some small nugget of academia about which someone in the world somewhere might care. Not even that, but I’ll be spending one on one time with a professor in my field for an entire semester.
This symposium also helped me with my current classes. I’m at the stage where I have to take classes because upper level classes that I want to take have prereqs, such as general chemistry. I hate the class and the subject matter and would like nothing more than to never open my chem. book again. And yet, the symposium helped me realize that I’m not ready to work one on one with a professor yet. There is still much to learn, even if it’s the drive of being persistent.
I did enjoy one poster in particular. A friend of mine, Matthew Dorris, presented on toxicity levels of chromium and lead in dillo dirt. Completed with Dr. Wiegend with whom I’m taking a class now, Matthew showed me the importance of chemistry as a field… even if it is taking metal out of dirt.