Welcome from the Dean
Welcome to the Schmid College Program Honors and Capstone Conference!
Today’s event celebrates some of the amazing Schmid students that have conducted research as part of their Chapman experience. These are students who have already emerged as leaders in their fields of study and who have generated new knowledge that wouldn’t exist without their efforts and talents. What you’ll see today – virtually! – are bright young scientists sharing their findings and their passions for scientific discovery.
The presentations that you’ll enjoy today are the culmination of months (or in some cases years!) of work. What you won’t see are the sore fingers from of pipetting, the mind-numbing spreadsheet calculations behind a graph, the hours of coding to get a result, or the struggles of working through a new equation for the first time. You won’t see the frustration, or the mistakes, or the miserable practice talks, or the self-doubt that are often a part of the process of growing as a scientist. Realize that today’s polished presentations are the tip of iceberg, but also remember that all the hard work below the surface is what has shaped these students into the scientists presenting today.
To today’s student presenters, I offer the same advice that I do every year – don’t apologize. In most years, this advice is coupled to a reminder that no one in the world is more qualified to give your presentations than you are. This means that if you make a small mistake, no one will notice unless you draw attention to it with an apology. This year, I hope that you will extend this advice to how you talk about experiments and analyses that didn’t happen as you had planned due to the current crisis. None of you have anything to apologize for. You have done amazing work (under impossible circumstances this semester!), and we are really proud of you. Today is your chance to show off what you have accomplished – enjoy it!
Good luck. We’re cheering for you.
Jason K. Keller, Ph.D.
Interim Dean, Schmid College of Science and Technology