WPU students showcase research, community engagement

Apr. 20—OSKALOOSA — Dedicated student scholars from William Penn University presented capstone research projects at a symposium hosted by the college on Thursday.

The students showcased their best work at the annual William Penn University Student Research and Creative Arts Symposium, which featured research presentations from more than 100 William Penn students representing academic disciplines across the board, including biology, kinesiology, wildlife, exercise science, history, political science and religion.

Professor Jim North, of the William Penn chemistry department, says the event gives students a chance to develop the public speaking and communication skills that are essential in today's job market.

"The symposium gives the students an opportunity to display what they've learned in a setting where they have to talk to the public," North says. "We start out with little things in other courses and other classes on campus, [for example], Principles of Communication, where they learn how to do a little bit of public speaking. By the time they become seniors, we expect them to be able to do some research: come up with an idea, do the research, get some results and some sort of conclusion, and use the skills they learned throughout their college career, and then give a talk."

The students gave 10-minute slideshow presentations as one part of the symposium. The other part of the event is a "poster session" that requires real-time public interaction, as the students mingle with interested onlookers and explain their research projects.

Santiago Vidal, a William Penn senior from Los Angeles, California, based his presentation on an internship experience he had with the Mahaska County Sheriff's Department. Vidal wisely used his internship opportunity to pursue his life-long dream of working in law enforcement.

"It's something I've been wanting to do for as long as I can remember," Vidal says. "I've grown up in a low-income community, and I know how crime is ... how they tend to pick at the vulnerable people, so [I just want] to protect and serve people."

Vidal spent his time with the department doing ride-alongs, working with dispatch, learning how the county jail works and gaining experience with procedures.

"[The sheriff's department is] there to help you, no matter what," Vidal says. "They're going to help the people ... They're very involved with the community, and the community is involved with the sheriff's department, just to help each other to keep the community safe."

Vidal says he was initially nervous about the public speaking portion of the symposium, but through preparation, he has gained confidence.

Participation in the symposium isn't just limited to seniors. Trekevius Jones, a freshman from Marked Tree, Arkansas, presented about the time he spent volunteering with a community organization called Marked Tree United during his trip home over spring break.

Jones' volunteer work was done in conjunction with his religion class at William Penn. The work focused on helping disabled people, homeless people, and families with five or more children by preparing and delivering home-cooked meals, providing transportation for elderly residents to their doctor's appointments, picking up trash, participating in youth Bible study and taking a group of children to a high school state championship basketball tournament.

"My hometown is small, but not too small, so everyone knows each other. Just to be able to come back and help, I'm a college athlete now, so the kids are looking up to me," he says. Probably my biggest moment was when a little boy — one of my little cousins — said he wanted to be like me, go to college and do what I was doing."

Jones is a member of the William Penn Track and Field team.

In addition to the life-long lessons the students gain as they conduct their research and engage with their communities, William Penn junior Destiny Tom, of Houston, Texas, says the research symposium provides an opportunity for students to gain valuable real-world experience in their fields of interest.

"It's eye-opening to see that people are interested in things that you are very interested in, invested in. Because I took a lot of time, and heart, and mind into my project, and I have had a lot of people come up to me and talk to me about it ... It kind of just doesn't educate other people, but educates myself too," Tom says. "Participating in something like this, it gives you an experience for the real world. Because college is about real-world things."

Channing Rucks can be reached at crucks@oskyherald.com.