Bemidji State University showed off some their students’ work with their annual Student Achievement Conference. The event was made for students to present their work in front of BSU staff members and professionals in the community.

The day started off with a keynote speaker. Then, exactly 90 students gave oral presentations about their projects. There was also more than 105 poster presentations made by students set up in Memorial Hall on campus.

Travis Ricks, the Student Achievement Conference Chairperson. says, “They work with a faculty report sponsor and working hand-in-hand with a faculty sponsor, they design. Well, first they form a question – form a question about something they’re interested in. Something that we might not know a lot about. Then they form their hypothesis and they go out and collect date and then they report that data to us.”

Every college at BSU was represented at the conference, which made for a wide variety of presentations. Students gave lectures about everything from art and technology to diversity on campus and even the subject of napping. When the conference is over, each student who participates walks away with an activities transcript that they can add to their resume.

Julie Larson, a BSU Professor Of Chemistry, says, “This is the most students we’ve ever had participate in it, and it’s a tremendous asset that they can put on their resume that they’ve not only conducted research, but they’ve presented it in a professional forum, and I think many of them find that as they approach jobs or professional programs that it is a big benefit when it’s something like this they’ve experienced.”

Anyone in the community is allowed to come to the conference. It’s always scheduled on the first Wednesday of April.