My name is Joseph Chavoya. I am a Mexican-American Senior pursuing a degree in Pure Mathematics. As a first-generation under-represented student in Mathematics, I understand the difficulties associated with not only pursuing a degree in the Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NSM); furthermore, I understand the difficulties in actually thriving in NSM. Though my first SACNAS experience occurred a bit late in my academic career, I found the experience very beneficial.
The presentations/talks in areas of NSM were inspiring (especially those done by people in my field), the exhibitor session was irreplaceable in that it allowed me to introduce myself to a variety of Graduate school representatives, and the poster-presentation experience was exhilarating (it felt really good to know that someone other than my mentor and I actually felt my work was interesting). Despite these events, I felt that I did not get the full benefit out of the SACNAS experience (note that this does not reflect on SACNAS). As a Senior who has already begun research into graduate school, applied for GRE’s, and completed REU’s, I felt that my biggest benefit came from the networking opportunities available throughout the conference, as well as the opportunity to present research. Sitting through these talks, however, I found myself thinking about the process I had to go through in order to actually arrive where I am now, and how much I could have benefited from SACNAS had I had the opportunity to attend one (or even two) year(s) prior. Looking at the SACNAS experience from this point of view, it has been one of the most inspiring, beneficial, and (in addition to the educational opportunities) fun experiences I have had in my undergraduate career. Given the chance, I would love to go again. In addition, I advise any student (especially those that are underrepresented in NSM) to attend SACNAS at the very first opportunity they get and take full advantage of the opportunities available.
