My STEP Signature Project took place at the American Chemical Society’s Fall 2024 National Conference. I have been doing organic chemistry research with Dr. Hadad at The Ohio State University for over a year now, and I presented that research at the conference’s undergraduate poster session. Along with the poster session, I attended a lot of talks given by students and professors from around the country.
While completing my STEP signature project, I found a deeper interest in chemistry. Before attending the conference, I did not have any interest in the other disciplines of chemistry because I have not been exposed to them yet. Organic chemistry is one of the first chemistry classes that a chemistry major takes, and they learn about physical and inorganic chemistry later on in college. This made it hard for me to explore my research options since the first lab I looked at was an organic chemistry lab because I liked the class. I did not want to join a research lab that I did not know much about the subject. But as I was completing my STEP Signature Project, I was able to explore the other disciplines by listening to other chemists talk about their research. Even within the area of organic chemistry, there are different research types, such as synthetic and methological organic chemistry research. From this experience, I realized that I did not have to just stick to synthetic organic chemistry research going into the future if I found other areas more interesting.
During the project, I attended many oral presentations and poster presentations. Through these presentations, I was able to learn more about a variety of different disciplines of chemistry. One notable presentation was given by a professor who a giving an organic chemistry talk on a methological process that his lab was developing. The specific method that his lab was developing was to cyclize an enamine in a safer and more scalable method. Since I do synthetic organic chemistry research, I have not been very exposed to methodology, but this presentation made me more interested in it.
I also was able to talk to a lot of graduate students, industry chemists, and professors during my time there. I was able to gain insight into what their work looks like on a day-to-day basis. This allowed me to further narrow down my choices of what field of chemistry to study in the future. It also allowed me to think about what kind of job I want to have after I get my Ph.D. in Chemistry. This experience helped me to meet a lot of different chemists from around the country, and it was a great networking opportunity for when I apply to graduate schools.
My poster presentation was possibly the most impactful activity that I did. It was a great way for me to professionally talk about my research to chemists who understand what I am talking about. By speaking with other chemists from different fields, it allowed me to think about how my research can be interconnected with the other disciplines. Through this experience, I was able to talk to the other undergraduate student presenters around me. They were all doing a different types of research, and it was a great way to network and to further explore my options.
This transformation was significant to my life because I want to get a Ph.D. in Chemistry in the future. Since Ph.D. programs tend to take a long time, I want to be able to explore all the different fields of Chemistry before I start applying to different graduate schools. Also since I do not know much about the job opportunities after getting a Ph.D., talking to chemists gave me a few career options that I may be interested in for the future.
