STORY AND PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY HANNAH KAMPITAN, DIGITAL EDITOR
PHOTO COURTESY OF KENDYL COVEY
Cypress College’s first Student Voices: Multidisciplinary Conference took place on Dec. 3, 2024, as over 60 students presented their research to their peers and faculty. The event took place on the fourth floor of the CCCPLX building, and guests were able to listen to student findings from a wide range of disciplines.
Faculty professors and counselors in the Honors Program and Psychology Department teamed up to create this platform for students to showcase their work; however, students were required to submit an abstract summary on Nov. 1, which determined their acceptance into the conference.
Accepted students were provided with workshops to prepare for their preferred format to discuss their research, whether that be through an oral presentation, poster, or paper. Melanie Nabahani, an English Professor, offered two oral presentation workshops, while Karen Salazar, a project manager for the Honors Program, offered two poster presentation workshops. Students also had the opportunity to get their posters printed for free if submitted before Nov. 18.
On the day of the conference, the first hour after the opening ceremony was dedicated to students who completed a poster. Guests were able to walk around CCCPLX-414 in a gallery format, meeting presenters at their discretion. However, the oral presentations required students to go one by one on a strict schedule from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., with time dedicated to questions after every third presentation. According to Salazar, oral presenters were separated into three rooms depending on their field of study–allowing guests to visit multiple rooms.
Kendyl Covey, an English Professor for ENGL-100 Honors, made it an assignment for her students to participate in the conference.
“A large-scale, well-researched essay is often the ultimate test in English 100, so when the opportunity to participate in the conference came about, I felt confident my students could use this as a chance to make their work even more relevant and share it with others outside of their classroom–which they did magnificently! I am so proud of my English 100H Scholars,” she said.
Ginella Barajas, a student in the Psychology Department, said how fun the conference was as a presenter.
“I loved interacting with everyone who came by to look at my research poster–and all the questions they asked. It was all very informative and really inspiring to see students come together to share their passions and interests,” they said.
Elijah Wilkerson, an English major, said that being a presenter at the conference was an enjoyable learning experience.
“It was one of the most exciting things I’ve done this semester; I had a blast seeing and hearing all the great presentations our peers worked so hard on,” he said. “There were so many creative and unique perspectives that I felt like I was able to learn a little bit about everything.”
Additionally, students received incentives–whether it was activity/service credit for the Honors Program or extra credit in their respective classes.
During the closing ceremony, all presenting students were awarded a recognition certificate for their participation and dedication to the conference, which was hand-delivered by the Psychology Department staff. This year’s multidisciplinary conference offered students exposure to a conference environment and gave them a platform to show their hard work.
