By Michela Brown, Peer Research Ambassador

Presenting at a conference can be an exhilarating yet nerve-wracking experience. This past January I had the opportunity to share my research at the Plant and Animal Genome conference in San Diego. It was the first time I presented my research, especially in front of scientists who share opposing or similar interests. I had a lot of anxiety and uncertainty when preparing to attend the conference, and I wanted to share some personal insight on how to make the most of your experience.

Building Confidence through Preparation

Confidence doesn’t come overnight; it’s built through preparation. When applying to present, you will have to submit an abstract (summary of your research) months before you attend. It is good to have the data you want to present completed before writing or submitting your abstract. This will allow you to know you are certain you will be presenting what you write about. Also, I encourage you to begin writing your abstract about one month before it is due to allow your Principal Investigator (PI) and co-authors to review what you have. You will typically have at least two months from the abstracts due date to form your poster before the conference date. It’s a great idea to use that time wisely and spend a few minutes a day organizing your layout, coming up with key ideas to add, or forming your data charts and graphs. I know from personal experience not to wait until the last few weeks to finish or even start preparing to present at a conference. I didn’t finish my poster for the one I attended until the week before I left and had to strategize how to have my poster printed before I flew across the country. I received my poster the day before my flight, and I felt an immense amount of stress that carried into the beginning of my trip. I felt unorganized and unprepared but managed to make the most of my experience after some time. Continue reading →

By Andrei Abarientos, Peer Research Ambassador

I’ll be the first to admit I’m still figuring things out: in my research, in my career, in my life. When people ask what I want to do with myself after college, I jokingly say: “maybe research, maybe medicine, maybe some secret third option.” The truth is, that secret third option is literally anything else. Sometimes, I think I could teach, others I think I could go into science policy or public health. Sometimes (especially around exam season) I think about dropping out, running away and living in the mountains.

I spent a long time thinking that maybe my personality was incompatible with research. I’m someone whose interests are still so broad, but much of research is narrow by design: you spend your time working on a specific social phenomenon, a specific protein, a specific disease. I was just interested in too much, I thought. Still, I jumped in, maybe for the wrong reasons; it seemed like everyone was doing research, and I wanted to give it a shot. Continue reading →