Every spring, USF hosts an undergraduate research conference that gives the students in all different fields a chance to present any research that they've been working on. As a first-year student, I've had an amazing opportunity to take part in a two-semester, course-based research class called SEA Phages. During part of this course, we annotated the genome of three bacteriophages (viruses). We evaluated their DNA sequences to determine where there were coding regions for proteins present, and what function each of those proteins serves within the virus. I teamed up with four other students to present one of our annotations at this year's undergraduate research conference- P.U.R.E (Preeminent Undergraduate Research Experience).

I've never thought of myself as a public speaker. I've always been the student that tries to put off presenting as long as they can. I always stress out way more than I should in the days leading up to when it's time to present a project. So, you can imagine the nerves that I had every day as the conference came closer and closer. The only thing that really held me together was the fact that I knew I had a group to lean on if I stumbled while I was speaking.

Imagine my surprise when we were rehearsing our presentation and I managed to keep my voice loud, steady, and confident, and I was the one being complimented on how well I presented myself.

Imagine my surprise, even more so, when this carried over to the actual conference.

The feeling I got speaking to everyone who came around to look at my group's poster was unlike anything I had ever felt. It was something like an adrenaline rush, I think. Our two-hour time slot flew by like it was only twenty minutes, and for the first time, I didn't question my place within the research, and STEM community. I felt like I belonged just as much as the other people I was surrounded by. I felt immense levels of pride, and immeasurable levels of satisfaction teaching everyone about the research that I'd put countless hours into over the past two semesters. It was something that I could actually see myself doing time and time again, and making a living out of.

I walked into the conference thinking that, at most, I was going to get an experience that I could talk about on my CV.

I walked out feeling more confident than ever in my speaking abilities, myself, and my choice in major and future career.