Blog Challenge #4

Yesterday was the SEED Celebration Day lunch. Representatives from Bayer, the American Chemical Society, students and faculty from Duquesne University, and current students and alumni from Project SEED all gathered together in the Power Center's ballroom to discuss what SEED was and what happens if you get accepted into the program. The Summer I and Summer II students gave a presentation lasting anywhere from 1 minute to 10 minutes describing to the audience what their project was and how much they enjoy their time here at Duquesne University.
As one of the Summer I students who had the opportunity to present in front of everyone, I can say that I think I did a better job of presenting than I thought I was going to do. I'm a natural introvert, so public speaking isn't something that I'm comfortable with doing at all, but I don't think I did that terrible. I think I could have done a better job of explaining what it is that I do, but with the time limit restriction, that was almost an impossible feat. If given the opportunity to do it all over, I would change my word choices and explain the more important parts of my project first.
I learned a lot of useful information during the event including the past experiences of former SEED students. I think it's really interesting how much this program has impacted their lives and I know that this program is affecting me in the same ways. Dr. Wheeler also gave me insight on the Bio-Medical Engineering exchange program that they have here at Duquesne. Half of the program is spent here at Duquesne University studying physics, and the other half takes place at The University of Pittsburgh studying engineering. This program sounds interesting to me so I might have to look into it.
I didn't interact with too many new faces yesterday, which was kind of disappointing, but I did get to meet a woman from Bayer who has a program similar to SEED at their headquarters in Sheraden. I also met, though she didn't introduce herself to me, another woman who I believe works at Bayer as well. She praised Emily, Cheyenne, Kelly, and I on our presentations and we spoke a little bit about how much we enjoy the program.
In conclusion, yesterday was a very fun learning experience and I am glad that I had the opportunity to present my project overview to not only Dr. Wheeler, but to everyone else, too. I can't wait until the symposium on Friday!