In addition to the rewarding experience I gained from being able to network with others in the same field as me, I was able to gain valuable knowledge in the field of work. Over the course of the two-day symposium I was able to learn about not only the work being done by other schools dealing with this grant, but also incredibly helpful knowledge in the field I hope to go into. With the grant as a whole dealing with archival investigation of integration at the respective schools with each school’s presentation of their work, students and faculty presented their findings in the year or so since the grant began. Because of these presentations, along with talking with others, I was able to gain some knowledge on practices that may improve my own work. For example, one institution mentioned involving the local community churches that were involved with the narrative they were creating. This was done in order to gain a fuller understanding of the stories they were uncovering. This would aid in my work in particular, possibly talking with relatives of those whom I am researching to get more background and understanding of the person. Overall, the conference as a whole provided me with great experience that will be useful in my future work which I was not expecting to gain.

My experience at the Pathways to Diversity conference at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia was a very rewarding experience. Having never been to an academic conference before I was not really sure what to expect. Worried that I would not be as prepared as others, I tended to over think and analyze my work in preparing. However, after arriving at the conference I quickly learned that it was much more relaxed that I anticipated. With the conference as a whole only including three other colleges in the South, the crowd was knowledgeable on the work that was being discussed and much more forgiving in the sense that it felt more intimate and comfortable. Because of this almost over preparing for the conference I feel I was able to gauge what was truly needed of me to give a confident and educational lecture. With the symposium again consisting of such a small crowd I was able to network with students and faculty from other schools. On the final night of the conference the students from each of the colleges went to dinner together, with this we were able to not only network with other students in the same position as I am, but also learn about their experiences working with the grant and the research they’ve done. I think networking as a whole was one of the most rewarding experiences since I was able to see others practicing in the field of work I hope to go into and discuss with them the ways in which they achieved their goals.