“Revolutionary Scholarship Through Transformative Experiences & Movements” 

29th Annual UMBC McNair Scholars Research Conference Overview 

Grad School Fair 

On the morning of Friday, September 17, 2021, the 29th Annual UMBC McNair Scholars Research Conference started off with a Graduate School Fair, where the scholars were able to virtually visit 49 graduate schools to learn more about their graduate programs. The grad fair served as a helpful way to propel scholars forward in their graduate school journey and to find schools that would cater to their career interests and needs. A key takeaway from this experience was that students ended up visiting schools they not initially interested in, but established great connections that developed new graduate schools of interest. Having an open mind provided scholars with new possibilities for their future.  

Networking Activities 

On Friday evening, the Conference Ambassadors hosted different networking rooms for the scholars to attend and get well acquainted with each other. The rooms included icebreakers, games, and even a DJ! During the networking activities, the scholars were able to relax and have fun while getting to know other scholars from all across the country. One room in particular, the Skribblio game, which consisted of about 6 scholars, lasted from 6:00pm all the way to 9:10pm! Scholars had a lot of fun evaluating each other’s artistic abilities. These networking rooms were amazing and helped the scholars to enjoy themselves and spend time with their peers before presenting their research on Saturday afternoon.  

Saturday’s Keynote 

On Saturday morning, Joana Hernandez (REM 29) introduced Dr. Antoine Taylor as the keynote speaker. In his keynote, he walked the audience through his graduate school and life journey to where he is now. As a result of the keynote address, the scholars learned an important lesson about rising to the occasion and facing challenges. Dr. Taylor’s keynote served as a way to encourage the McNair scholars as they continue on with their graduate school and research journey. It was also a reminder about the importance of having people around them who will support and continue to push them to achieve their career and personal goals. He left them with this encouraging statement, “if I smell like smoke, it’s because I went through fire.” 

Research 

After the keynote, McNair scholars had the opportunity to share their research through oral and poster presentations. There were 103 oral presentations, and 78 poster presentations, which is a record high of poster presentations! There were many different research topics that were presented across a variety of disciplines and it helped to give the attendees a picture of what research is like. It also was valuable by helping McNair scholars picture themselves presenting research in the future. 

Conference Summary 

To conclude, the overall experience of the McNair Scholars Research Conference was exceptional and the conference did a wonderful job of making the scholars feel like they belonged. Even though the conference was virtual, the scholars felt that the conference did a great job placing emphasis on community and excellence. The love and community support surpassed the virtual realm and could be felt by everyone who had attended. From the keynote speaker to the research presentations, the 29th Annual McNair Scholars Research conference was certainly valuable to all of scholars, attendees, and McNair staff.