On Feb. 27, campus buzzed with activity from Dana Auditorium to King Hall as students showed off their research accomplishments. These presentations covered a variety of majors at Guilford giving the community a chance to see students’ work. “The Undergraduate Symposium is a chance for building the Guilford community through sharing across the disciplines,” said Assistant Professor of Biology Melanie Lee-Brown. “We are generally unfamiliar with what is considered scholarship in other divisions and disciplines and the symposium is a way to share and celebrate student accomplishments with each other.”

This was the second annual Undergraduate Symposium (GUS) in Guilford history, originally created by Brown and Professor of Chemistry Robert Whitnell.

The first Symposium last spring featured 50 presentations and roughly 70 students, according to Whitnell. This year the number increased to 68 presentations and around 90 students.

“I think the research symposium was a wonderful way to showcase the talent and effort that students at Guilford put into their work,” said senior Anna Finn who researched the socioeconomic effects of AIDS on Sub-Saharan Africa. “It not only shows the passion behind what students are interested in, but the commitment to learning about new things, which makes us, as a college, unique.”

For both students and faculty alike the event takes months of planning.

Last year the sole organizers were Brown and Whitnell. This year they had help from David Newton, Eva Lawrence, Levon Williams, and Heather Hayton.

“We were very fortunate this year, we had a very good organizing committee,” said Whitnell. “Last year we were inventing on the fly but this year we knew better.”

Students participating in the event began submitting their research in Nov. and the committee looked over each submission to decide which would be displayed. Many students presented projects from fall semester courses.

“The research was a lot of work first semester,” said senior Brittany Bumgarner who participated with senior Jessica Casto on a research project based on the relationship between coach feedback and player motivation. “It was nice to share it with more than just a class of 12.”

Students also commented on the useful practice with public speaking the symposium allowed for.

“Standing in front of an audience was definitely more nerve racking for me than presenting my poster,” said Finn. “Once I got into my presentation however I began to feel more comfortable and confident about what I was presenting. I spent all fall researching and compiling my information into a thesis that I could defend and be proud of.”

Many graduating seniors presented at the Symposium, which contributed to their thoughts about plans for the future.

“I hated research, I never truly understood what the importance of research was but now that I have conducted my own research and was asked to present it at GUS I understand why it is so important,” said senior G. Decherney who conducted a study on memory in connection to music. “Now, I’m applying to grad schools and looking for research based programs.”

In addition to the educational opportunities the event affords students and faculty, the symposium also gave parents and community members a chance to see students’ work.

“I am extremely pleased with the event, it is an extraordinary array of scientific and thoughtful endeavors,” Dr. Stephen Decherney, professor at UNC Chapel Hill’s medical school.

Overall, the symposium received much praise from students, faculty, and attendees.

“Everyone had a great experience and it is doing exactly what we wanted; getting faculty and students from across the campus to mix-it-up so that we can learn more about each other, more about scholarship in other disciplines and just to see the cool things going on around Guilford,” Brown said. “It also gives us the opportunity to forge new connections across campus in ways that we may not have previously considered or imagined.