Presentation Time - Just a little voluntary exercise beforehand, no need to worry.

My research experience this summer came to an end the last week of July. In order to complete the program all of the undergraduates in EnSURE had to participate in Mid-SURE. (Someone likes acronyms) Mid-SURE is the Mid-Michigan Symposium for Undergraduate Research Experience that takes place at the Breslin Center at MSU. For those not familiar, the Breslin Center is the MSU basketball arena located on the far west side of campus.

The event hosts 300 (ish) undergraduate research students from about 9 different institutions from around the country to present their summer research. There are also quite a few programs represented; those 300 students aren't all from the EnSURE program.

I was sick the last 2 weeks of work. (Literally sounded like a man when I talked) Therefore, on the day of the event, my first plan of action was to look as professional as possible so that I could somehow fool my audience into thinking I wasn't really that sick. It was time to pull out my suit. If I couldn't be a 100% on top of my game at least I was going to look like I was. After making the effort to appear professional, I arrived at the Breslin in order to set up my poster before the presentation time. I retrieved my poster from the front desk and unrolled it only to find that it was the incorrect and unedited version. Since I was sick, I really didn't want to care, but I was forced to to because I was to be graded on how perfect the poster was organized. So I headed back to the front and tried to explain where they went wrong. The lady in charge, promptly handed me her phone to call DECS. (DECS is the engineering computer support division, and because of my 3D printing project this summer, they know me well)

Background on why the poster was the incorrect version: (the week and a few days before the event)

There was an original deadline for the poster so that DECS could print all 300 of them in time. The deadline then got moved to 2 days later because DECS said that they worked at lighting speed. So I turned in my poster by the second deadline. That following Friday I received an email saying that they (EnSURE) didn't get my poster and couldn't send it to DECS to be printed. I then sent them an email saying I turned it in, and then sent them an updated copy of my poster just in case. I never heard back, so the next week (week of the event) I went to DECS and asked if they had received my poster. At first they were like "I'm sure we have it, and that it is just with all of the others." I then asked them to check and then found that they didn't have it. So the guy that was helping me offered to print it right then. I got on the computer, created another updated version and was told I was good to go and that it would be at the event. From that point on I thought I was in the clear.

Going back to the day of the event. I was on the phone with DECS and it was mentioned that there was still time to print the poster before the presentations started. In my suit and all, I walked as fast as possible without breaking too much of a sweat to the Engineering building. (0.6 miles east) I arrived at the DECS office, said "hey, I was just on the phone with one of you and I came to print my poster." Then one of the very polite DECS guys that I has helped me quite a few times this summer asks " Alright, Do you have an engineering account?" Even though I have gone in there almost every day all summer, they still can't remember me, let alone that I am a fellow engineering student. (Maybe it was the suit) So after the nice guy helped get my poster loaded and printed in about 10 minutes, I headed back to the Breslin. (0.6 miles west) I arrived at the event center with 15 minutes to spare before I had to present in which I spent each minute putting my appearance back in order before judgement time.

BAM! In the first 4 hours before the event started I had already walked mile or two, managed to undo half of work I put into getting dressed that morning, and was still sick. But hey, my poster was on the stand 15 minutes ahead of schedule without any flaw.