Seminar Reflection

I found both the Career Development 101 and Writing Academic Articles and Getting Published seminars to be helpful as well as interesting. I learned a lot of new information about resources for professional development and about successfully writing a publishable academic article. 

The Career Development 101 seminar exposed me to many resources that are free to me as a U of M student, such as free business cards from the Alumni Center and free feedback and revision on academic papers at the Sweetland Writing Center. I also learned that networking has a hugely positive impact on job searches; I didn't realize that so many jobs are found through networking. The seminar reminded me that even if I am not looking for a job right now, I should still be setting myself up for success when I am searching for a job. I plan to do this by updating my resume, ordering business cards from the Alumni Center, and continuing to network with professionals and students in my field. 

The presentation that Ms. Manis, the representative from the Sweetland Writing Center, gave for our Writing Academic Articles and Getting Published seminar was very informative and a little eye-opening. She offered valuable insight on the process of publishing an academic article and I learned a lot from her. For example, I was not previously aware that you can only submit an article to one journal at a time. Additionally, the experiences she shared with us in respect to the peer revision process was very enlightening, and it was really helpful to me that she shared the actual comments from the reviewers with us. I think it also could have been helpful to us, as an audience of science majors, to have someone with experience in academic publishing from the science fields speak as well. However, the information that Ms. Manis shared with us was nonetheless helpful, even in terms of writing our abstracts for our posters. 

The last two seminars were very useful, and I am grateful to UROP for presenting us with opportunities to learn about professional development and academic publishing.