The NE Regional Honors Conference was a very significant experience to me in that it further confirmed the importance of research in all aspects of academia. With its theme of, “Bridging the divide”, I was unsure if my honors project would be an adequate fit for this event, but with the guidance of my mentors we were able to formulate a project that did “bridge the divide”. My project was titled, “The Synthesis of Thioadatanserin: Illuminating the Public on Drug Discovery and Academia.” This work manifested the conference’s theme in the science segment of the conference by enlightening the public on the steps to synthesizing of a new drug, all the possible failures that can occur, and its lengthy process. The research I presented adhered to the theme because most consumers are not familiar with the drug industry and how the manufacturing of new drugs works. The public is also not aware of the more recent role academia has played to reduce the large costs of synthesizing adequate drugs. Through the journey of gathering research and presenting to my peers at the conference, it was very clear that the divide between the public and their knowledge on drug development must be minimized.
When arriving to Pittsburgh, my nerves began to rise because I knew that my project would lure my peers and other representatives at the conference, but throughout the weekend all the presentations, discussion tables, and Q&A stations helped to calm my nerves. The new experiences I took on in Pittsburgh also made my time in the Steel City very pleasing; from watching a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game to finding a hidden comic book store to trying delicious milkshakes, the city was an experience like no other. With all this happening in my last month as an undergraduate student, this trip was an ideal way to end my four years in the Honors Program. The NE Regional Honors Conference motivated me to continue performing research and it is something I would recommend other students in the Honors Program to pursue.