Student Research and Writing Conference Reflection

     This past Wednesday, I attended the 8th Annual Student Research and Writing Conference. It was mandatory for me to be there because some of my classmates from The Journey in Literature class were going to be participating in the conference. Their panel was going to be about "Jungian Journeys: An Analysis of Memories, Dreams, Reflections". For this activity I, along with some classmates volunteered as ushers. My job was to welcome people and help them register before they entered the amphitheater were the conference was taking place. Honestly, I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I did. But, in the end, I really liked interacting with people. This took place during the morning and in the afternoon I returned to see the presentation my classmates had prepared.

     Everybody from our class that was not presenting was there in support of those who were. As they took the stage I was really excited for them, and at the same time I was hoping that they wouldn’t get nervous because nerves are horrible to have; especially if you’re talking in front of large groups of people. However, they all looked pretty confident and in control as they talked to the audience. When the time for questions came around, each of them was asked a couple of ones, to which they all answered very well. Then, as they left the stage, the crowd burst into a big round of applause. In that moment, I could not have felt happier and prouder for my classmates.

     Afterward, I stuck around a little while longer and listened to the following presentation which was about "The Arrabales of Puerto Rico: An Ethnographic Approach". The presenter was an economy graduate student. Among the things he talked about, he mentioned the struggles that certain Puerto Ricans faced back in the day while trying to make a better life for themselves. As he spoke, I couldn’t help but to think about a play I read back when I was in high school named "La Carreta" by René Marqués. In fact, it depicts what he was talking about remarkably well.

     In short, the conference was really informative and there were some good presentations that took place. Also, I had a lot of fun being an usher and I enjoyed watching my classmates give their presentation. I hope that this activity keeps going strong year after year, because it’s a good way to showcase different educational themes, and to give student who like it, the opportunity to get in front of an audience and present those themes.