It was early Saturday morning. Each person was dressed up. They had all been preparing for this moment for months. All those hours and all that time leading up to this one day. It time to present their work. It was time for them to shine.

Skyline students presented original research on Saturday May 1 at U.C. Berkeley along with other community colleges from across Northern California. It was the third time the symposium had been held in Northern California and for the first time at Berkeley. The showcase covered a wide range of disciplines from biology and physics to literature and history.

According to Professor Katharine Harer, one of the organizers of the symposium and the honors transfer coordinator at Skyline, the idea for it for it first came about three years ago because honors coordinators in Southern California had been hosting one for years.

“The reason we did it was because we wanted there to be an opportunity in Northern California for community college honors students to share their research and to go through the process of creating and giving a presentation and having that professional and academic experience,” said Harer who had helped provide guidance to each presenter throughout the symposium process.

She also added that the recognition and acknowledgement students received at the symposium was one of the most rewarding aspects of it because “it helps you realize what you can do.”

Throughout the process, student presenters also had faculty members from disciplines relevant to their research who helped to mentor them. Professor Castro who had helped to mentor Skyline student Christopher Burleson commented on the invaluable experience that students gain by going through the process.

“You get to present in a very prestigious campus, either Stanford or Berkeley,” said Castro who had attended the symposium for her third straight year. “You get professional training in how to interview, how to present yourself, how to behave in a professional environment, and you also make connections. It’s a wonderful step forward in the student’s resume. There‘s nothing not to like about it. “

On the other hand, Skyline student Ashley Good emphasized the caring and independent environment that the symposium provided for student researchers. Good, who was a presenter for the third straight year said that having people at the symposium who “actually care about my research” was one of her motivations for presenting.

“We’ve designed these experiments and we’ve done the research on our own,” said Good who had presented on the antimicrobial properties of Kombucha Tea at Berkeley. “We’re not doing somebody’s else’s work. We’re doing our own original work and that’s what the symposium is all about…It’s a place where people actually want to see what you’re doing.”