11/2017

Reflection from Michelle Leidy:

Attending the Annual Biomedical Research for Minority Students (ABRCMS) was a wonderful experience. The community was especially welcoming and supportive of everyone in attendance, and the recruiters and presenters were warm and approachable. This was the first conference I had been to that had such a large emphasis on professional development; there were workshops on finding grants and career exploration, with plenty of time to meet with people who held many different types of jobs (academia, government, non-profit, patent law, industry, etc.). I found that the opportunity to talk to real people from different companies helped me get a better understanding of what kind of jobs I want to be doing with my degree, and getting their contact information to keep in touch will hopefully give me additional opportunities when I do start looking for jobs. This was important to me because I previously had only a vague notion of what I wanted to do with my career, and finding this direction has helped me make more concrete and tangible long-term goals.

Another aspect I participated in was helping to run the Emory Chemistry Department/ CCHF booth. I met with undergraduate students at all levels, as well as program coordinators, and told them about the chemistry department as a whole, and the summer internships that the CCHF provided (especially to the younger students). It was heartwarming to see so many young chemists interested in the work going on at Emory and the CCHF. Many seemed genuinely interested in the program and asked a lot of questions, and we ended up getting a lot of these students signed up for the email list.

Overall ABRCMS was a very positive experience for me. I really enjoyed meeting new people of all ages, making new connections, learning about career paths, and talking about our program. I would highly recommend this conference to others and would gladly go again if given the opportunity.

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