This week, the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship (OURS) will be hosting the 21st annual Student Scholars Day (SSD) at Grand Valley State University. That’s 21 years of students showcasing their scholarly research and creative work using a variety of mediums, including poster boards, panel discussions and live performances. 

We encourage the GVSU community to support its fellow Lakers by attending SSD Wednesday, April 12. Students from a broad range of disciplines will be presenting their work throughout the day in various locations around the Allendale Campus, so there’s bound to be something for everyone.

Most students have been preparing their original work for the better part of the semester, so SSD is the culmination of several months of dedicated research and planning and is the perfect time for us to recognize these students’ scholarly contributions to GVSU’s pre-existing body of research.

Underclassmen attending SSD will be able to catch a glimpse of the impressive research that upperclassmen have been able to conduct while studying at GVSU and maybe get ideas for how they can contribute their own original work down the road. This may be the first time these students are realizing they can conduct undergraduate research like this and share it with the whole GVSU community to gain valuable experience producing and presenting original work and to bolster their resumes and graduate school applications.

It’s not new news that college is hard. We work endless hours throughout the semester to reach our goals. From group projects to essays to homework, it feels like we’re constantly working, so it’s always nice to receive some praise for our accomplishments. For those students involved with SSD, take this time to show off your work and enjoy all you’ve achieved. For those attending the event, take note of the accomplishments of those around you. We go to a school full of innovators and collaborators, and SSD lets us see what they’ve come up with firsthand.

College campuses are meant to be places where individuals learn, study and, perhaps most importantly, share their ideas and work with others. We commend OURS and GVSU for making this opportunity available for students to do just that. What’s a good idea or an excellent research project worth if they aren’t made available for others to study and learn from?

That’s why we encourage GVSU faculty, staff and students to attend SSD to explore the exhibits and engage with the student presenters. Their work is original and worth sharing, and it would be a shame for it to go unacknowledged. This is a great opportunity to support your fellow Lakers and learn something new. Who knows? You might even be inspired to do some research or creative work of your own for future exhibits like this one.