Gwendolyn Walton | Staff Writer
On the afternoon of Monday, April 29, 131 Buena Vista University (BVU) students gathered in the forum to present a culmination of semester, year, or even career-long hard work in the form of research that is Scholars Day. This was the ninth annual Scholars Day at BVU.
BVU prides itself on providing opportunities for research in many different forms and requiring research in many academic degree programs. This year, Scholars Day included a total of 93 presentations that were given in the form of 43 verbal presentations and 50 poster presentations. These projects were facilitated by 34 faculty/staff sponsors. These sponsors are vital players in the research projects, providing guidance and another pair of eyes searching for areas of the project that could be improved.
Assistant Professor of Graphic Design Rebecca Frates was the coordinator of Scholars Day.
“This day is truly the result of many individuals’ hard work. I am extremely grateful for all the support in planning and execution of the event as well as the faculty/staff sponsors who assisted and encouraged the student presenters. I really enjoyed seeing the variety in subject of the presentations, hearing about the research process and results, and seeing the sense of accomplishment in the presenters; it made all the planning worthwhile,” Frates said.
The day began with check-in at 3 p.m., where all participants received an inscribed 4GB flash drive. Verbal presentations twenty minutes in length were held in classrooms throughout the forum for the following two hours. That evening, participants, faculty/staff sponsors, and guests enjoyed a Sodexo catered dinner during the keynote address given by Bo Leonard (SL Class of 2013). His address included encouragement to utilize fear in reaching goals rather than allowing it to paralyze our progress. Dessert was served during the poster presentation session from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., where students answered questions about their research.
Senior Xochitl Deanda participated in Scholars Day this year and commented on the benefits of involvement.
“It was a great experience to share all the hard work I’ve put into my research with faculty and other guests,” Deanda said.
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Photos by David Ekstrom
