Sweet Memories: Historical Research

Meet Sweet Memories researcher Liz Chollak! Liz was born in Rock Springs and has lived here almost her entire life. She is a freshman at Western Wyoming Community College pursuing a degree in Social Sciences. She plans to attend the University of Wyoming and obtain a Law Degree. In her spare time, Liz loves reading and watching documentaries on everything ranging from medical advances to pop culture and of course history. This semester, her research will focus on the experience of coal miners working under the Company Store model here in Sweetwater County.

Congratulations to Sweet Memories researcher Carlos Alejandro Gonzalez, who graduated yesterday from Western Wyoming Community College with his associate’s in history! We are very proud of him!

Congratulations to Samantha Wegner for placing second for her research at UW’s Undergraduate Research Day! Another fine accomplishment by the members of Sweet Memories: Historic Research Group!

Rock Springs Student Recognized for Excellence in Research - A Rock Springs student is one of the finalists recognized for excellence in research during UW’s recent Undergraduate Research Day. Over 400 students presented their...

This previous week was very rewarding! After finishing up both projects, we presented them here at WWCC undergraduate symposium. My partner and I both did good presentations and placed! Next stop is UW's undergraduate research day. For that, all we have to do is just shorten our papers. Other than that, we are good to go.

As the year winds down, it is time to reveal our findings and be recognized for the hard work we’ve done! Today, researchers Samantha Worden and Carlos Alejandro Gonzalez successfully presented their work at the Western Wyoming Community College Research Symposium!

Since we have finished up the projects we started last semester, we spent this last week to working on our more recent papers. We have all the information we need, now it is just a matter of cutting some stuff and finishing up our visual presentations before we present this coming Wednesday. Yesterday was Saturday U here at Western. I was lucky enough to listen to some well done presentations regarding philosophy and history. I was introduced to knew concepts about perception and interpreting evidence, and I learned more about our country's 16th president. I also took notes on the presenters' vocal and visual skills and had a nice mini breakfast.

Learning the hand on things you can do with a background d in history has been amazing. Learning how to mount and preserve historical items with a hands on approach has been great! The picture is a mounted mickey toy, like what you would do to store artifacts in a museum or archive!

Our researchers don’t just focus on their own projects. They also attend talks and events that expand their understanding of the world around them, and apply that knowledge to their work. Here is Sweet Memories researcher Carlos Alejandro Gonzalez attending Saturday University—a morning of thought-provoking presentations on topics ranging from philosophy, to history, and biology.

History can provide you with so many opportunities. I am currently attending a museum conference learning about applications in a museum setting. These are great tools for making professional connections along with seeing how history degrees can span across fields.

Now that we have arrived back in Rock Springs, I had a real opportunity to rest and think about the conference. It was a real life changing experience. I was able to meet new people and see familiar faces, present my research, see multiple presentations, obtain new sources for my current project, and was able to return to San Antonio.

There were some differences form last year that only improved the conference. Working the registration desks and assisting people was truly gratifying. Without being allowed to work at the registration desks, we would not have been able to go. It was intersting to help and watch academics of many fields interact professionally. Through this professional networking, I was able to meet many professors that presented opportunities for my following two years of undergtaduate studies.

I was also able to attend many presentations regarding different fields. I went to sessions about New Zealand, I attended session regarding Europe and post WWI and WWII, I listened and had a great conversation about American Indian Identity in a presentation, I went to several Latin American panels discussing education, identity, and culture, I saw my partner rock her paper, and I also participated in the poster competition.

I presented my research on a poster, so I enetered the competition. I was the first one there in the morning because I did not want to be late. When I saw the other participants, I was a little intimidated as there were grad and doctorate students. Despite the competition starting a little late, the audience was not shy and started inquiring on our posters immediately. After a shaky start, I was able to gain confidence and before I knew it, the two hours had passed! I spent most of the time presenting my poster verbally, in english and spanish, so much that I started to lose my voice. People were asking about my poster even after the competition was over, so I was still at the conference room when they counted the votes. They immediatley let me know that I had tied for first as I was explainging to someone, an uncommon occurence.

After the competition, I was invited to the president's luncheon where my awards were presented to me. Obtaining first place gave me reassurance that all the hard work we as a group put into the project was worth it in the end. For my first time presenting at a professional conference, it went well, and I am looking forward to following years!

This week presenting in San Antonio was amazing. This experience has been jaw dropping for me to watch and partake in. I was both a student worker and presenter helping to build up my resume for future endeavors. I got to experience Texas and a conference all in one.

I presented two different items. The first was a book review on “Walking the Llano.” Sitting amongst scholars and critiquing a book written by a scholar as well was a bit nerve racking, but also so rewarding. Hearing you brought a good perspective on the book is validating. When the review is published I will be a co author as well helping me have an edge for graduate school.

The second item I presented was a paper on child mortality in Gebo, Wyoming. This panel consisted of anthropologist Jessica Smith and myself. Presenting and answering questions posed by scholars and more specifically historians was tough but helped me grow so much. I was able to show I know my research and it was well received, encouraging me to go on.

Overall this conference pushed me mentally, but also rewarded me greatly. Meeting and connecting with scholars and talking about graduate school options felt amazing and gave me hope for the future. This helped to validate my choice in becoming a historian as well.

Sweet Memories Tradition .