Office of Undergraduate underused

Tucked away on the quiet second floor of Maxwell Library are some pretty loud ideas, such as proofs to prove the validity of quantum mechanics and advice on editorial writing. These ideas aren't confined to the dusty books in the library shelves, but rather inside the Undergraduate Review, a publication offered by the Office of Undergraduate Research which is a compilation of BSC student work. Inside this office students apply for and collect information on grants to engage in research, both in and out of their field of study. The possibilities seem endless, and a major draw would seem to be the money. Up to $4,500 can be granted as a stipend and for research supplies. Ironically enough, the biggest draw for students is the least valuable thing to acquire in undergraduate research. Undergraduate research allows the students of BSC to add their voices to the other scholars in their disciplines, sometimes even on the national level. Brianne McDonough, class of 2010, was one such student.

Spending only a small amount of her own money, she had the opportunity to present her research at the Geological Society of America in Portland Oregon. Plane tickets, hotels, meals, and the convention fees were paid for by the grant, but despite the monetary support from the school, the rewards were far greater.

"At the conference there were a lot of prospective graduate schools there. It's like a recruiting thing for them." notes Brianne McDonough.

Her presentation was on the radial fracturing pattern on the planet Mercury. The idea for such an intense topic came from her mentor, Robert Cicerone. The first step in undergraduate research is to find a professor who shares a similar interest. One might think that finding insightful information on the radial fracturing patterns on the planet Mercury would be the hard part of undergraduate research.

"The hardest part of undergraduate research is finding a mentor," states Lee Torda, Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research. "You have to find a faculty member you like - you have to find a faculty member willing to mentor a student, a faculty member that does a kind of research that you are interested in."

For students, the research takes the form of a partnership under the tutelage of the mentor as they help one find an appropriate research topic, while developing a professional relationship with their mentor.

This opportunity offered at our college allows our student body to integrate and compare to other schools around the nation. It can give a sense of deeper meaning behind the college degree as being more than just a conglomeration of credits and core requirements. McDonough came to realize this during her Oregon experience.

"I met other students who were there presenting from all over the country. I met other professionals in the field. It was so amazing to talk to them, and realize there was so much more out there than the little microcosm of the Earth Science Department at Bridgewater State."

The model for undergraduate research is inherently questions based. It teaches the student how to look at material and find solutions to meaningful questions, even if their hypothesis has changed because of it.

"In real life, you're not asked to recite an answer whether it be in writing, science, or accounting, you're given a problem and told to fix it. That's the reality of life," said Torda. Learning valuable research methods and working in teams is what will yield the experiences to help a student perform their job, whatever that may be to their fullest. On top of that, BSC's undergraduate department is nationally recognized. It is rare to find such a gem as this office in such a small state school, and nothing of this magnitude or quality exists at a UMASS campus. Believe it or not, Bridgewater students can compete academically with the likes of Harvard, Yale, and Brown. While our student body may be a more underprivileged than the Ivy League student body, BSC students are just as smart, talented and insightful.

"I'm really proud of our students going out into the world and being tremendous." Torda muses, remembering her favorite past research projects. "It's really great to see how our students go and hold their own against just about anybody. I'm always saying Bridgewater students can hold their own against any student in any school, period. And they never believe me and then they go into it, and then they believe me."

It is only a matter of if the student body can believe in itself enough to pursue and claim a potentially greater future. The first step is to set foot in that quiet office in Maxwell Library, and not be afraid to speak your ideas out loud.