Working in Dr. Shardé Smith’s lab with C-HeARTS (Community Healing and Resistance Through Storytelling) has expanded the idea of home and given me a bigger village in the Champaign-Urbana community, which I have grown to love, that supports me on my academic journey.

My project has allowed me to be actively engaged in the community while still having ties to the university. The goal is to bridge the gap between these two entities.

This past summer, Dr. Prescott and her research team in Food Science and Human Nutrition conducted a study titled Time for Lunch, which studied the impact of school lunchtime constraints on dietary food behaviors among children participating in summer camps held on campus.

Going to Zimbabwe was one of the most impactful experiences I have had in my college career. The trip brought nearly complete cultural immersion while also maintaining a specific service objective. I was fortunate enough to have had an extensive academic background to support our goals during the trip. As a Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) major, many of my classes have been focused around public health.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the National Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (NACT) Professional Development Conference in Kansas City, Missouri. I, as well as a few other members and officers from our ACT chapter, benefitted from this experience and gained a lot of new knowledge to take back to our chapter. We were able to tour a lot of cool places in the surrounding Kansas City area, attend workshops, and network with industry professionals to learn more about their experiences within the agricultural communications industry.

Being involved in research as an undergraduate has been an important part of my college experience. It has helped to further my understanding not only of scientific research, but also of myself and what I’d like to pursue in the future. During my freshman year, I was part of the IGNITE Undergraduate Research Program, which matched me with a research lab on campus based on my personal study interests. While I was initially intimidated, the wonderful and patient people at Dr. Hind’s lab quickly made me feel like a welcome and contributing part of the team. 

As a graduating senior from the financial planning program at the college of ACES, I have had a lot of career opportunities offered by the program over the years. Around this time of December, before the semester ends, we always have a Financial Planning Day tailored to students who are looking for job opportunities in the financial planning industry. This year, I had the chance to attend Financial Planning Day at Lodgic Everyday Community, and it was an unforgettable experience.

I will forever remember my experience in Sydney, Australia, as a fundamental moment of growth. I learned an extensive amount about the world around me, culture, travel, and most importantly, myself. Australia is a beautiful country with a lifestyle like nowhere else in the world. The people, history, climate, work-life balance, opportunities, and love is felt within every aspect of the Australian culture. The University of Sydney is a vibrant, urban environment that cultivated success and learning, and I enjoyed every minute I spent studying there.

For the past semester, I have been working with Dr. Studer in his research lab. The biggest reason that I wanted to work in a lab was to continue to build my resume and gain lab experience. I also wanted to find out if I enjoyed working in a lab setting as I might be in a career field that requires a lot of time in a lab. It is also helpful to be able to practically apply what I have learned in class into real scenarios.

Last month, the University of Illinois Ag Ed Club traveled to St. Louis for their annual professional development trip. During this trip, over a dozen members visited various agriculture-related entities, including Breese Central High School, Excel Bottling Company, Osborn Barr Communications Inc., and Eckert’s Belleville Country Store and Farms. Not only were members presented with the opportunity to expand their knowledge of multiple facets of the agriculture industry, but students were also able to network with the University of Illinois alums in numerous agriculture sectors.

For me, graduate school had always been one of those vague goals in life, like taking a trip across Europe, or trying bungee jumping someday. It wasn’t until I became involved with the Illini Algae Research Group that my passion for research and learning started to coalesce into something more concrete.

Not only did I gain some research experience, but Illini Algae gave me the chance to practice presenting information to various audiences, gleaning information from academic journals, and writing a research paper.