On October 10–12, Dr. Findley-Van Nostrand and Dr. Powell took three students to the Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood (SSEA) Conference in Toronto, Canada to present research through poster sessions and presentations. These students included Casey Jo Gough ‘20, Sophie Bacon ‘20, and Abbey Packard ‘21.
Students presented research through two different poster presentations. Casey Jo Gough and Sophie Bacon both worked alongside Dr. Findley-Van Nostrand and presented their poster titled “Emerging Adults’ Social Goals for Peer Status: Associations with Aggressive Reactions to Provocation”. Abbey Packard worked alongside Dr. Powell and presented her poster titled “Teaching self-efficacy of emerging adults across a first-level education course with community-based learning”.
The students have since given some insight onto what it was like presenting at the conference as well as their reactions to Toronto:
Casey Jo Gough
The opportunity to not only partake in undergraduate research but to then fly out of the country to present at a professional conference was an unforgettable learning experience. This was my first experience leaving the country, and it was fun to explore the streets of Toronto and take in all the sights. Presenting at the conference gave me confidence in my research abilities as I prepare for grad school. I was able to speak to other researchers and received great advice about my career path as a future school psychologist. I think the best part of the conference experience was the opportunity to attend lectures and poster sessions of unpublished research. I was able to speak to other researchers about their studies and look at exciting unpublished data in my areas of interest. I can’t wait to see where my research will take me next!
Sophie Bacon
Attending SSEA in Toronto was an incredible experience. Presenting our poster and findings was a really fulfilling experience and everyone who we talked to was so friendly and excited about our interest in research. Also, because I am still unsure of the direction that I want to go in when pursing graduated school, it was so helpful to talk to others who were recently in my shoes! I found walking and looking at all of the other posters to be really informative and eye-opening regarding the knowledge that we can learn about this newly defined stage of life. I felt very lucky that we were able to travel to such a cool place like Toronto, the city felt so walkable and had an abundance of hip-restaurants and soaring skyscrapers!
Abbey Packard
Canada was an amazing experience overall and as an undergraduate research student I gained lots of insight into graduate level research and felt confident being able to present my work to graduate and PhD students. The other presentations were extremely impressive and networking opportunities were all around which is always a bonus! Being able to go to Toronto was a wonderful experience thanks to the help of Dr. Powell! The city was beautiful and was an experience I’ll never forget.
Dr, Powell
Dr. Powell also presented one poster titled “Emerging Adults’ Bid Responses: A Pilot Study on Romantic Communication” as well as two papers, “How to break up: Individual differences in emerging adults’ normative beliefs about ghosting” and “Emerging adults’ perceptions of what it means to be “Talking””.
Congratulations to all those who attended the conference and for having successful presentations!
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