The Work Behind the SURF Day Glory With Sophie Gerth
29 years ago, Elon University allotted one day during the spring semester for students who had been working on undergraduate research projects to present their findings. The entire Elon community is welcome to attend any of the presentations of their choice.
On April 26, 2022, 234 students presented the findings from their projects for this year’s SURF Day–Sophie Gerth being one of them.
Gerth is a current senior political science major, who is preparing to get a master of science (MSc) in Gender, Media and Culture at the London School of Economics next year.
She demonstrated this passion of hers through her project: “Allow Me to Introduce Myself: Analysis of Senatorial Announcement Videos in the 2020 Election.”
After hours and hours of working on this, it finally came to life.
Q: In past years, have you attended different SURF presentations?
A: I have! The last time I went was the last time it was in person, which was my freshman year. I was required to go for the honors program and for one of my classes. Specifically, I remember listening to a senior honors fellow who did a presentation on art history (which is an interest of mine) and thinking that it was the coolest thing ever. It made me excited to partake in SURF in the future.
Q: What initially pushed you to want to partake in a research project in general?
A: I was required to do it as an honors fellow: one of the requirements to graduate with honors you must present a thesis of your choice. However, I knew I wanted to do research before I got to Elon.
Q: How did you come to choose the topic of senatorial announcement videos during the 2020 election?
A: I was inspired during my freshman year, specifically the fall of 2018. The first announcement video that I had seen was AOC’s video called, “The Courage to Change.” I found the things that she was speaking about, both of us as women of color, to be very moving and I knew this was something I wanted to learn more about. I went to one of my professors and asked if they had seen this video, and they had told me that there were actually a lot of these types of videos. Then, towards the end of my sophomore year, I confirmed my thesis topic and began to identify how I wanted to move forward with this. During the fall of my junior year, I was supposed to pitch my idea to a group of professors in and outside of my field, but I ended up waiting until the spring semester that year to pitch it due to COVID and the fact that my mentor was teaching her kids at home due to the pandemic. Luckily, the honors committee allowed me to do this. However, it wasn’t until my senior year when I did all of the data collection towards this–which was a lot of work and time.
Q: What were some of your biggest concerns and excitements heading into the day?
A: Going in, I wanted to feel confident in my presentation, and when I finished I wanted to feel like I had a good bookend because that was the last time I’d ever talk about my thesis. I was worried about letting myself down and not feeling good about it, but I was so excited to share my work with my friends. They had been asking me to go to thesis events which were all closed, but I told them to come to SURF. Little did I know, they all took that seriously and came to my presentation. They all asked questions and were so supportive which was really a full-circle moment.
Q: Lastly, if there are any words of wisdom you could offer to readers who are considering embarking on a research project like this or are just simply interested in partaking in SURF day in the future, what would it be?
A: First, go for it! Elon makes the undergraduate research process so easy and accessible–which is very unlike any other opportunity for this. Second, if you have an idea, a professor that you like, or a class that you enjoy, reach out to other professors and ask about mentees and any questions!
The dedication and effort that goes into making these different projects come to life are truly commendable, and the variety of subject matters that are presented makes Elon SURF day a special one. If you haven’t attended a SURF day yet, we at The Edge highly recommend it!
Photo provided courtesy of Sophie Gerth