Michael Dlugosz
The Penn York Undergraduate Conference was truly a great learning experience for me. I received the unique opportunity to see how my research was in comparison to others across the state. Attending the conference was truly an uplifting experience, as it gave me the confidence I needed to uphold myself in the sometimes intimidating scientific community. My research was very well received by my audience. Many asked questions following the presentation, proving to me that they were truly interested in what I have been working so hard on inside the lab. Being not very fond of public speaking to begin with, I was very happy with the way the conference went, and I look forward to presenting at further conferences perhaps next semester and definitely into my graduate schooling.
Jennifer Cook
Attending the Penn-York Undergraduate Research Conference was a very valuable and rewarding experience for me. The conference gave me the opportunity to present my research to others, who were as passionate about their research as I am about mine. Not only did I gain knowledge in presenting my work to others, I also gained knowledge in formulating a professional presentation. However, I must admit the thought of presenting my research in front of people that I did not know was originally terrifying, but once I was at the conference and saw how friendly everyone was my nerves subsided. This conference also provided me as well as other students to interact and explore new areas of knowledge, that might have otherwise not been possible. The conference was also a great chance to have my own work received by others, that may not have as much experience in my field of interest, and offered me the opportunity to briefly educate them in that field. From this conference I was able gain pride, not only in myself but in the work that I do in the research lab, because I was able to see and experience first hand the benefit of conducting and presenting my own research. As I continue my research I am eagerly looking forward to the next time that I will be able to present my research and listen to the research of others. I also encourage anyone else who has the opportunity to present their work in a conference, such as the Penn-York Undergraduate Research Conference, to do so, and hopefully they will gain as much from the experience as I did from the Penn-York Undergraduate Research Conference.
Jaclyn Cianciosi
As this was the first research conference that I have attended, the Penn-York Undergraduate Research Conference was quite an interesting experience. This powerpoint was the second of two presentations that I participated in during the conference. It was a great experience to be able to present my own research project to other students and faculty and learn about their interests in the topic. The conference provided an opportunity to present my own work to an audience who were truly interested - this is very different from presenting in a class. It was a phenomenal experience because everyone who attended the conference shared the same passion for research and posed a lot of interesting questions for each presentation. The question and answer section at the end of each presentation was great because I learned how to explain my research and expand my knowledge to those who may not have the same scientific background as me. From watching other students present, I was able to learn how to improve my own presentation skills and furture powerpoints. Overall I enjoyed the conference and it encouraged me to progress further with my research studies.
(Caitlin Gessner reflections here)
Jaclyn Cianciosi
The Penn-York Undergraduate Conference this October was the first research conference I have attended. Overall it was a great experience. The atmosphere at the conference was great, everyone was very supportive, personable, and had a genuine interest in every student's project. It was a great feeling to be able to present my own research work to other students and faculty and even more to hear their interest and amazement in the amount of work I and the other students had accomplished. This presentation was the first of two that I participated in at the conference so I was quite nervous. However, after watching other students present, it helped build my own presentation skills and boosted my confidence. The questions that were presented to me at the end of the powerpoint helped to estabilish areas that may need more fine-tuning or even possible directions for future research. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the conference and it was great to see my fellow lab team present their own studies as well. There is nothing quite like presenting your own work.
Penn-York Undergraduate Research Conference 10/21/2006
Ashley Smigelski
My experience at Penn York really helped boost my confidence level as an undergrad presenting my research. The environment was really open, encouraging, and supportive with respect to the questions that the other professors asked about my presentation as well as the questions that the students asked. I felt that I could present my research without having to anticipate criticism over each part of my study. I also enjoyed watching the presentations of students from other schools to see the different types of research that was being conducted. By listening to their presentations, I learned how to improve my own presentation skills and to be able to think critically about the hypotheses, and methods, results, and discussion sections. Overall, I felt that this was a good initiation into research conferences, and now I feel more prepared for the next time I will present.
