Symposium Reflection (Elsa Acosta)

Student Symposium Blog post

When I first found out about the Student Symposium panel discussion, I was honestly excited and felt confident. Although I had never spoken in a public setting before, speaking to my class multiple times before had sot of prepared for this event. In fact, knowing they had been there actually soothed me and brought down my nervousness. Naturally, I am a very social person however this event really did cause me to feel very anxious and insecure. The day of the event was something else. I usually don’t have stomach issues, but day was something else. My stomach was in knots. The fact that there were still so many questions I had prior to the event was not helping my anxiety at all. I was nervous that things would go south. My group was the first to present so that calmed me down a lot. Since we were presenting first, we would set the tone for the rest of the class. Meaning there was very little room for failure, which was nerve racking. However, this also meant that our spotlight would be over before we knew it and boy were, we glad! That day I could not stop picturing and expecting the worst of the worst. “Be hopeful for the best but expect the worst” that was what I was thinking throughout the duration of the event. Not just for my group but the entire class. After we presented there was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I felt confident, knowledgeable, respected and proud. I felt proud to have been able to go and present in front of a bunch of strangers as well as show others what I had learned while conducting my research on our topic. I think the other groups did great during their presentations. I thought everybody’s appearances were very professional. Some groups even brought onto the panel table their laptops and papers. I would say that there seemed to be groups that were more prepared than others. Each group had approximately seven minutes to present. So, every group had to shorten their initial presentation not only by its duration but as well as its content. The idea that we had to present for a shorter amount of time helped most of us, emotionally. However, we also had to leave out a lot of information that was interesting and useful. Most of our topics were already the subjects of common everyday conversations. Therefore, there is a possibility that what we presented as a group; the audience might have already known all that information. Overall, I think this was a wonderful experience. I think it was something life changing for everyone. It taught everyone something and has brought the class closer together. I am very thankful for this experience. I’d like to say thank you to my team for being so great and our professor and leaders for being so supportive. I would not have wanted it to turn out any other way.