“Me or We? The Effects of Team and Individual Sports Activity on Executive Functioning”
Presented at Ryerson University’s 48th Annual Ontario Psychology Undergraduate Thesis Conference, May 4, 2018
This year’s Annual Ontario Psychology Undergraduate Thesis Conference was held at Ry
erson University, in Toronto, Ontario. The conference provided an opportunity for academics passionate about the discipline of psychology to interact, connect and engage with each other. It was also an excellent opportunity to get a firsthand feel of the ingenuity that Canadian undergraduates possess. Due to extremely unfortunate circumstances (such as my car being impounded), I was unable to hear the Keynote Speaker’s presentation. However, I was still able to gain a wealth of knowledge during my time at the conference, while communicating my ideas, thoughts and knowledge. It felt refreshing to see so many other young people that, like myself, were also enthusiastic about the discipline of psychology. What I genuinely loved about the conference was the diversity in theses.
The conference offered a wide range of topics, which made it almost impossible to not find something you were interested in. I visited many different oral presentations, but the majority of my time was spent in the poster sessions talking with students about their work. It was an awesome experience to learn more about other student’s work, because the atmosphere was a lot less intimidating and formal. After the sessions, I had lunch and then prepared for my presentation. In a classroom, me and three other students (including another Huron student) took turns presenting our thesis. Our thesis topics were labelled as “Cross-Cutting Psychology”, which to me had quite a nice ring to it! I presented last, so I had the chance to hear everyone’s work, as well as have them hear mine. The audience was quite engaged in my presentation, and this was especially evident during the questioning period. Overall, I am very pleased with my performance at the conference. I not only was able to share my work, but I was also able to gain invaluable knowledge about many different facets of psychology. The opportunity was one I am grateful for. My experience at the conference will only prove beneficial in my future endeavors, as it has further galvanized my love for psychological research.