Honors Students Present at 2012 WRHC
PULLMAN, Wash. — Five Honors College students were selected to represent WSU at the Western Regional Honors Conference (WRHC) in Albuquerque, N.M. April 12-14. Jared Brickman, senior journalism major from Baker City, Ore., Lindsey Elhart, sophomore political science major from Vancouver, Wash., Laurel Graves, sophomore civil engineering major from Arlington, Wash., and Deven Tokuno, junior zoology and English major from Bellevue, presented about the Honors College freshman seminar, Honors 198. Brickman and Elhart also presented about the Honors College “Summer of Excellence” with Dean Libby Walker.
Presenters, panelists, scholars, students, administrators, and faculty from honors programs in the western region attended the conference. The 2012 theme, “Between Earth and Sky: Imagining the Future,” was chosen by host University of New Mexico to represent their home state as “between a range of extremes: ancient cultures and modern technological society, scarcity of resources and an abundance of biogeographic diversity, home of the space port alongside centers of ecological preservation and conservation.”
In their Honors 198 presentation, Brickman, Elhart, Graves, and Tokuno spoke about the logistics behind the program, including specific aspects of the course, as well as suggestions for implementation. The “Summer of Excellence” presentation also highlighted the nuts and bolts of the unique program that introduces high school students going into their senior year about WSU and honors programs at research universities.
“The Western Regional Honors Council Conference is a tremendous opportunity for Honors students to interact with other students from the Western region and, more importantly, to gain practice giving presentations to students, faculty, and staff from various honors programs and colleges,” says Walker. “This conference is completely student-focused, which makes it a unique experience.”
Omar Bayomy, senior neuroscience major from Moscow, Idaho also attended the conference to present about the Honors College thesis project. He shared his own “pass with distinction” experience in addition to a cohesive overview of the process.
An impromptu thesis presentation by Brickman demonstrated the WSU Honors College spirit and love for the thesis project. “The presentation was very similar to the one I gave for my Honors thesis oral defense,” says Brickman. “When we were at the WRHC, I noticed there were a lot of time and room openings on the first day. I consulted with Dean Walker about the possibility of doing my thesis for the conference during an open time on the second day. She agreed it would be a good use of my time and we got the woman running the event onboard. We advertised the night before and day of, and I got to present one of my longer stories during an hour time block. The story was ‘The Price of Soap,’ one of my favorites from my book ‘The World in a Suitcase.'”
MEDIA CONTACT: Deven Tokuno, Communications Assistant, Honors College at WSU, 509-335-8070, deven.tokuno@email.wsu.edu