An amazing experience

What is your full name and which university are you affiliated with?

My name is Gemma Rosanne Wood and I am in my final year of BSc (Hons) Psychology at Arden University. 

What prompted you to put in a submission for the Festival of Psychology event in the Midlands?

A lecturer at my university (Holly Amber Stokes) encouraged me to submit a lightning talk application to speak about a university project I'm the student lead on.  

How did you prepare for the conference, did anything worry you?

I mainly prepared by creating the presentation slides and making sure I knew the information I'd be talking about inside and out. I did practise doing the talk a few times with my friends, family and lecturers, mainly to make sure I was staying within the specific timeframe and was able to cover all the information concisely.  

Was this your first time at an academic conference?

This wasn't my very first time as I actually attended my first ever academic conference the previous two days! However, it was my first BPS conference and experience giving a short presentation.  

Did you present on your own or with a colleague?

I presented on my own but knew some of the other speakers and had a few of my lecturers there in the audience. 

Tell us about your experience on the day…

The whole experience was really positive. On arrival we registered and, as I was speaking, I was then shown to the room where I'd be presenting and introduced to who would be chairing the session so I could upload my slides. Everyone was extremely supportive and understanding of my nerves as this was a completely new experience for me. I found everyone at the conference to be approachable and friendly, which created an amazing environment.  

How did you feel after your presentations, poster, talk, masterclass?

I felt extremely proud of myself and grateful I'd had the opportunity! And I couldn't believe it later in the day when I found out I'd actually been voted as the best lightning talk.  

What advice would you give to members thinking of submitting next year?

Just go for it! I was a little hesitant submitting the application as I get very bad anxiety especially when talking in front of others, but it was an amazing experience which I'll look back on with very fond memories. 

I'd highly suggest submitting if you're new to the academic conference world, I personally found it a very supportive environment where everyone was very understanding and encouraging.  

Which presentation/talk or masterclass did you enjoy most and why?

I really enjoyed the first keynote talk about the lessons learned from trials to support reading comprehension through peer-assisted learning strategies (PALS-UK) by Emma Vardy and Helen Breadmore. As someone who's interested in educational psychology and the process of learning, this was super interesting!

And I can't believe I'm writing this, but I also enjoyed giving my short presentation! Particularly answering a few questions at the end and getting to expand on a few of the points I'd mentioned in the talk. 

About Gemma Rosanne Wood

Gemma is a final year undergraduate student studying psychology at Arden university. She is passionate about educational psychology and mental health among young adults and is currently a volunteer research assistant while completing a qualitative dissertation focusing on research anxiety. Additionally, she is the BPS West Midlands e-newsletter editor. She aims to undertake postgraduate research next year. 

Twitter: @GemmaWood00