Apr 7, 2022
2022 Symposium winners.
(left to right) Dalel Serda, COM professor and GCIC Academic Symposium co-chair, Sydney Joy Dado, student Lee College; Cheery Chukwukelu, student Houston Community College; Maressly Garcia, Jennifer Freyaldenhoven, students San Jacinto Central; Thomas Elder, student College of the Mainland; Victoria Murphy and Sophia Flores; students San Jacinto Central; Kayleigh Hasselmeier, student College of the Mainland; Shinya Wakao, COM professor and GCIC Academic Symposium co-chair.

College of the Mainland (COM) hosted the eighth annual Gulf Coast Intercollegiate Consortium (GCIC) Academic Symposium on April 1 and two COM students walked away with top honors.

The symposium, “Reimagining Adaptation,” featured 42 presentations from students representing Gulf Coast community colleges. The goal of the symposium is to help students grow as scholars by enhancing students’ communication skills, facilitating networking across the disciplines and colleges, and helping students build self-confidence and feel ownership of their work. College of the Mainland faculty and staff served as judges and moderators throughout the day-long event.

Winners were as follows:

  • First Place: “Freedom Writers: Demonstrating the Shortcomings in Education” by Sydney Joy Dado, Lee College, advisors Georgeann Ward and Javier Ramirez
  • Second Place: “r/AntiWork and the Inevitable Effects of COVID-19 on the Working Class” by Cheery Chukwukelu, Houston Community College, advisor Dan Flores
  • Third Place: “The Effects of Mental Health on Student Success” by Jennifer Freyaldenhoven and Maressly Garcia, San Jacinto Central, advisor Judith Maima
  • Fourth Place: “Sea Glass Research” by Thomas Elder, College of the Mainland, advisor John Mohr
  • Honorable Mention: “The Effects of COVID-19 on the Mental Health of Teachers and Students” by Sophia Flores, Kaitlin Meier, Victoria Murphy and Lyzatte Zuniga, San Jacinto Central, advisor: Judith Maima
  • Honorable Mention: “Gender, Sex and Religion: A Study of Shifting Views” by Kayleigh Hasselmeier, College of the Mainland, advisor Dalel Serda

The symposium’s lunch keynote speaker was Dr. Patricia Aguilar, associate professor of pathology at UTMB, who spoke on “Emerging Arboviruses.”

Click here to view more event photos.