Hannah Harris suffers from "horrible" stage fright. It's a fear the aspiring teacher wants to overcome.
So what did the University of North Georgia junior majoring in middle grades education do? She signed up for a research project, forcing herself to present the idea three times during the Faculty Undergraduate Summer Engagement program.
"I had to be an expert on the topic and have professors and very educated people ask questions about my research," she said.
She spent 10 hours preparing for her first presentation with Dr. Gina Childers, assistant professor of middle grades and secondary education at UNG.
"Oh, it was horrible at first," Harris said, adding she has gained confidence during the following presentations. "It's been stressful but is such an amazing opportunity."
Now, she plans to do it again. She and Childers will present their research Nov. 2-3 at the Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference in the Martha T. Nesbitt building on UNG's Gainesville Campus. UNG will host GURC for the next two years, with 2018 on the Gainesville Campus and 2019 on the Dahlonega Campus.
"We are already starting to prepare for it," said Harris, a 19-year-old from Cumming.
Harris and Childers will not be the only UNG students and faculty members presenting. Haley Shea Barfield, a senior double majoring in English and interdisciplinary studies with a focus on cognitive science, plans to present one of three research projects. In fact, Barfield has already presented at several regional, national and international conferences, but is looking forward to GURC.
"It's been on my to-do list," she said. "I hope to show what UNG has done to foster research and go beyond the classroom.
Click here to read more about the program.
