In the spring of 2021 and 2022, I participated in a conference called the Virginia Academy of Science presenting my research I’ve been doing with my faculty advisor, Dr. Trubitsyn. In 2021, it was completely online, so I wasn’t able to get much out of the experience besides more knowledge of unfamiliar technology. However, in May 2022, I had the opportunity to go to Liberty University and attend this conference. I had a poster presentation and also attended a banquet to accept a scholarship. I learned a lot of professional skills during the poster session, since I had never been to an in-person poster session before. I had to find the balance between presenting my poster, answering questions, and viewing other posters. I learned how to interact with other students as well as professors. This session taught me that I really enjoy the format of poster presentations, because it allows for the presenter and viewer to be more interactive and ensure that everyone has understanding of the presentation.
When it comes to question and answer formatting of a presentation, I learned that it is very important to understand every little aspect of your poster, and more. My professor worked with me before the conference to learn how to best grasp the knowledge about my poster and tackle questions. I was glad we did this, because there were aspects of my poster that I researched multiple months prior and didn’t remember much about. It was important to go back and refresh my memory about every topic. Below is a copy of my poster from May 2022!
