Maryville College seniors present research at Southeast American College of Sports Medicine conference
Two senior exercise science majors, Jose Navarrete ‘23 and Chandler Godfrey ‘23 presented their Senior Studies at the Southeast American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting in Greenville, South Carolina. Associate Professor of Exercise Science Dr. Jeremy Steeves, who accompanied them to the conference, advised both Navarrete and Godfrey’s research projects.
Navarrete, of Miami, Florida, studied Maryville College students’ dietary habits, physical activity, workload and mental health and found “many health-related issues within students, such as high percentages of overweight students, and many students were not consuming recommended fruit and vegetable portions.” He also discovered that there was a significant increase in anxiety and depression symptoms in students who reported a large workload.
“While it was hard to see the value of a project like this during my first year or even while writing the study, the skills and experience gained from it are incredibly valuable,” he said. “Completing the project teaches many valuable lessons while also looking great on a resume and graduate school application.”
Godfrey, of Summerville, Georgia, studied sedentary hobbies and how they can be turned into more active experiences. Godfrey explained he sought to combat the negative side effects of a sedentary lifestyle. He completed a study using virtual reality video games to examine different strategies to get kids and individuals who are interested in gaming, into exercise. Godfrey found that “VR games like Thrill of the Fight could encourage inactive kids to exercise until they branch off into traditional exercise methods.”
One of the distinctive features of a Maryville education, the Senior Study requirement calls for students to complete a two-semester research and writing project that is guided by a faculty supervisor. According to the College’s catalog, the Senior Study program “facilitates the scholarship of discovery within the major field and integrates those methods with the educational goals fostered through the Maryville Curriculum.”
Godfrey explained that completing a Senior Study is something that sets a Maryville College degree apart from the degrees of other colleges and universities. Through the interest-based project, students learn how to conduct extensive research and, in Godfrey and Navarrete’s cases, learn how to analyze statistical data — a much needed skill in any field.
Both Navarrete and Godfrey described that being able to connect with professionals in exercise science at the conference was highly beneficial. Godfrey mentioned he could connect with graduate schools on a personal level, which was an enormous benefit of presenting his research at the meeting.
Dr. Steeves, the professor who accompanied Navarrete and Godfrey to the conference, remarked,
“Jose and Chandler, both first time conference attendees, were the most engaged students I’ve taken to this conference. Attending and presenting at conferences like this is good for our students as it provides learning, career-development, and networking opportunities. Attending this conference was a transformational experience for both students. Since returning from the conference last month, Chandler has been accepted in a graduate program at Western Kentucky University, which was one of several programs he spoke to in person at the Graduate Program Fair.”
Being able to present at a conference as an undergraduate student is a rare opportunity, Navarrete explained.
“Presenting as an undergraduate at a mostly graduate level conference gave me the opportunity to not only make connections with people in my field but also to appreciate the level of academic work I completed at MC,” he said.
