Presenting in student conferences develops professionalism

Student conferences come and go at ETSU, and from what I’ve heard from my English professors, it’s sometimes difficult finding students to present. I never really wanted to present at a student conference until last year, because I felt it was both scary and optional (meaning unnecessary in the perspectives of a student with so many other deadlines to meet).

For those of us in the humanities, we’re encouraged to get used to presenting. If we’re to remain in academia, then presenting will soon become our lives; it’s better to start developing our professionalism now rather than later. I imagine the same lectures have been given to other degrees too. Presentations become a natural aspect of the professional world, and the same goes for writing essays/theories/theses.

Often times professors will reach out to specific students and recommend they present an essay they wrote for class. I’m grateful for the professor who encouraged me – Dr. Thomas Alan Holmes – who reached out and encouraged me to present last year at the Southern Appalachian Student Conference on Literature. If it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t have experienced the rush and success of presenting one of my academic essays. If not for Dr. Holmes, I would have been grossly unprepared to present my senior thesis at the Boland Symposium last week.

I had worked on my thesis for nearly 10 months, and I knew everything there is to know about my topic, which was Judy Blume & Margaret Atwood: Feminism, Female Bodies, and the Social Implications of Gender Identity. All I had to do was present it.

It was nerve-racking, and I could feel my heart beat race, but Dr. Phyllis Thompson told me that adrenaline is good; it means I’m excited to take part in doing something I love. Student conferences give me a chance to prove to myself that I am a professional, and seeing the other faces in the crowd validates my experience as an academic.

If you’re hesitant to present at a conference, know this: Presenting at a student conference looks great on a resume (especially if you win an award); writing/presenting prepares you for your career; presenting is scary at first, but it’s over in twenty minutes. Also know that other people within your department and field want to hear your ideas. People want to learn, and we can teach them.