By Landon Allison, Staff Writer
Last Saturday, students of St. Bonaventure University’s Honors Program presented their capstone projects in the William E. and Ann L. Swan Business Center.
This event showcased the greatest efforts and accomplishments of the honors students on campus.
Darryl Mayeaux, Ph.D., a professor of psychology and the director of the Honors Program, said the purpose of the symposium was to provide a public forum for students to showcase their work.
“Friends come; family comes,” said Mayeaux. “Honors students can watch the presentations of other honors students if they choose to.”
Mayeaux said that these honors projects are expected to be more intense and in depth than normal capstones. Students worked on their projects with a committee of faculty advisors. They did a project that related to their initial senior-year capstone.
During the Honors Symposium, Samantha Terhaar, a senior bioinformatics major, presented research on finding functional transcription factor-binding sites in mouse genes.
“I have been working on this in Dr. Guarnieri’s [assistant professor of biology] lab for the better part of two years, so it was really rewarding to have my hard work come to fruition,” Tehaar said. “I focused on the experiments that I had been working on and tried to explain each step of the process in a manner that a general audience could understand.”
Mayeaux also said that this presentation is good practice for the students in the communication skills that will be expected of them in graduate programs or the workplace.
Keegan Miller, a senior philosophy, law and political science major, analyzed a current Supreme Court ruling and its likely outcome for her project.
“[My project] allowed me to learn more about the Supreme Court and the process they follow when deciding cases, especially First Amendment cases,” Keegan Miller said. “I also learned more about each justice, which will be helpful in predicting cases for future projects.”
Many of the students who had honors capstones attended the project presentations of some of their peers.
“I viewed a few presentations, which were all extremely well done,” said Erin Miller, a senior psychology major. “I especially liked Abbie Koetting’s presentation on cell phone usage in the classroom and how it impacts students’ attention.”
Haylei John, a senior international studies and Spanish double major, said she attended several of the presentations and was impressed by each of them.
“They all focused on unique areas of study and interest,” she said.
John also spoke on the importance of the symposium.
“The Honors Symposium allowed all of us honors students to proudly present our completed projects,” John said. “I enjoyed having the opportunity to present to my committee, members of the honors council, my peers and my professors.”
The students are now preparing for their futures.
Tehaar will be attending George Washington School of Medicine & Health Sciences in Washington, D.C. to do research as a medical student and, eventually, become a physician.
Keegan Miller would like to go to a law school, but hasn’t yet determined exactly where.
Erin Miller plans to continue studying in the field of occupational therapy at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York.
John is excited to attend Cornell Law School in Ithaca, New York, this fall and believes that her honors experience played a significant role in her success to date.
All in attendance thought that the Honors Symposium was a success and were glad to be a part of it.
“It was great to have all the senior honors students come together on one day to share their final honors experience and projects,” Keegan Miller said. “It’s also nice to see all the faculty and staff there to support the students who do work so hard on their projects.”
