Waking up at 7:30 on the morning of December 6 wasn’t my first choice, but it was perfectly necessary for a very wonderful day full of presentations, medieval armor, and pretty buildings. I’m talking about the 9th Undergraduate Conference of Medieval and Early Modern Studies at Moravian College, which I presented at along with two others who worked with Dr. Wronski to write abstracts and papers.
It was definitely a morning full of butterflies (or possibly hawks) in my stomach, loss of appetite, and a strong desire to simply not go, but it was also a morning of an amount of excitement and pride I’ve never felt about my academic career. Presenting at a conference is a huge step in anybody’s career in academia.
It was an honor to be able to do it, and I wouldn’t have applied if I didn’t want to. That’s what made me walk through the door into a beautifully constructed building on a beautiful campus full of buildings that are hundreds of years old, grab the folder with my name on it, and wait for the conference to start.
The conference opened with a short speech from a history professor and then proceeded onto the panel presentations from students. Since it’s an undergraduate conference, there weren’t a lot of professors there, but there were a lot of students interested in the work others are doing. All three of us were asked questions to expand on our paper and ideas, which was great since it meant people were interested in what we had to say.
By the end of the day, after listening to four panel presentations and an hour long presentation from a professor, we were relieved it was over and ready to do it again. It was one of the best experiences of my life and gives me much more confidence about what I can do in classes and in the future, especially when it comes to attending grad school.
I would recommend everyone taking the chance to present at a conference if they have it.
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