Freshman Research Conference Reflection

On the afternoon of Thursday, November 16, I attended the 2017 Freshman Research Conference in St. Joe’s Hall. The event was made possible by all of the Freshman Seminar professors and their students, and the Notre Dame de Namur University Library department. The purpose of the event was to give first-year students the opportunity to share their research findings with other freshmen and to enrich the Notre Dame de Namur University learning community. I found the research conference to be a worthwhile event because it challenged me to step out of my comfort zone by presenting before a large gathering of people, and because it introduced me to new and interesting research topics.

I valued the Freshman Research Conference because I discovered new, interesting, and relevant fields of study. One aspect of the event that made a great impression on me was the section of presentations on student research and meditation practices. In particular, I admired Sam Pastol’s presentation “Mindful Eating,” which demonstrated the benefits of healthy and informed food consumption, and and Hulita Fanaika’s presentation that examined the benefits of music and mindfulness because they were interactive and engaging. I have always taken mindfulness practices for granted, especially in classes where instructors open with such exercises. However, after these presentations and becoming further educated on the practice of self-awareness, I am beginning to realize that mindfulness can actually improve well-being. In my own freshman seminar course, The Happiness Project, we are reading Gretchen Rubin’s book The Happiness Project, which contains a whole chapter on the benefits of mindfulness and self-awareness, so this emphasizes the power of the practice. Another aspect of the event that left a great impression on me was the presentation on stereotype threat. From the students who presented, I learned that stereotype threat occurs among individuals who fear they are fulfilling the stereotypes of their cultural group, and it can inhibit success in certain contexts. Because I am majoring in sociology, I took interest in this topic of social psychology. In educational settings, students’ performance is affected by their social groups’ stereotypes and their instructors’ perceptions of them. The student presenters offered ways to reduce stereotype threat in our university context, and that would be to reach out and talk to peers outside of one’s normal social group. The fact that the university and the professors design relevant curriculum and academic programs such as these is reflective of Hallmark #7: “We develop holistic learning communities which educate for life” but it is also reflective of of Hallmark #3: “We educate for and act on behalf of justice and peace in the world.” It is reassuring to see the Hallmarks in action because it is easier to preach them rather than practice them.

I felt that the Freshman Research conference was a necessary event to attend because each section has explored valuable learning topics that are directly reflective of the Hallmarks. Without this experience, I would not be able to appreciate the other Freshman Seminar classes and the information they gathered. I had never heard about stereotype threat prior to the conference, but I found it thought-provoking because it is an area I now want to explore for further research. In almost all of my classes and readings, especially in sociology, I am discovering that race is a social construct, a hierarchy that divides the human population. I have not thought so much about race until reading Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man my senior year, and I definitely have not read so much about race until my first time here at NDNU. After this event, I feel that I have felt a call, a sign, an awakening, and a hidden interest to further study the structure of race in society.