By: Ellie Heider
Contributing Writer
More than 300 students presented their research ideas and experiences at the Scholarship and Ideas (SI) Expo, Wednesday, April 12, in Parmer Hall.
Many students took hour-long shifts to showcase their work on their posters which were mounted on tables and hung on walls in the Parmer Atrium.
Hundreds of their colleagues and some of their professors mingled among them. Others gave more in-depth individual or panel presentations in the hall’s classrooms.
Presentations ranged from internships to civil engagements to research projects.
This expo is an annual event but was formally known by the more cumbersome title of G(URSCI) & Experiential Learning Expo.
A sampling of presentations gave a picture of the range of student activities.
At one oral poster presentation, Isela Meraz discussed her wedding planning internship. She worked on marketing through emailing clients. She also worked on more sustainable ways to hand out wedding favors.
Her suggestions to her clients were things like candy, special bracelets, and even donations to the charity of their choice. She found the hardest part of the job was figuring out exactly what her clients wanted.
At another oral poster presentation, Kaitlyn Macias examined how more funding can be placed in community resources.
She discussed how uncomfortable police make certain people and how if funding were reallocated to community resources, such as safe spaces and counselors, people may feel safer. She also described how it would lower policing in over-policed areas.
Trauma and adjustment to college life were the subjects of a different oral poster presentation by Gloria Goray, Jhoana Ocampo, Devin Sanchez, and Alexis Konwinski.
They found that well-being was significantly lowered if the students had prior trauma. The highest trauma experience found in their study was sexual assault.
They concluded that Dominican should ensure safety on campus and implement more trauma-based teaching practices.
Konwinski, a junior psychology major, described her experience with this project as “collaborative and without obstacles.” Her role was researching and surveying through the Zoom interface.
She used relaxation exercises to help the participants feel more welcomed and comfortable. She also said coming into the presentation she was anxious and apprehensive but left feeling accomplished.
Panel discussions brought together more students, such as the one in which three student speakers, Grettel Gomez-Reyes, Gloria Goray, and Naomi Xiao Moreland talked about their work in social justice.
Gomez-Reyes discussed her journey in creating the Dominican club called Community Action Network (CAN). Goray discussed her internship at a youth services center in which she helped with individual/group therapy, events, and more.
Moreland presented her experience working with a non-profit in Little Rock, Arkansas over the summer of 2022. She and six other volunteers work to put together 300 care packages to help people in shelters with period poverty.
Another panel featured Angelica “Jelly” Perez, Callum Moran, and Sofia Alessandrini who presented comics they created as instruments of representing their identities.
Perez created a comic that showcased hair as a representation of identity and how it does not have to be inherently feminine.
Moran’s comic focused on internalized transphobia and how he initially wanted to be overly masculine when he initially transitioned. He later recognized that he could embrace femininity as well.
Alessandrini’s comic showcased her feelings of internalized misogyny through her comic.
A student in the audience said he felt his experience listening to this panel was important to represent the journey of these students. He said it was nice that they were open and honest about the experiences they had.
