Senior Allison Lambert was awarded first place in a student paper competition and received a grant for the Nebraska Undergraduate Sociological Symposium program at Doane University.

“It consists of like-minded individuals in the sociology field to present their research for feedback from others in the field, professors, and other undergraduate students,” Lambert said. “There is also a competition that you can apply for and is a way to receive a little grant.”

The Nebraska Undergraduate Sociological Symposium is an annual conference that is rotated between colleges. Sociology students from state colleges and universities gather with one another at this conference.

“My professors who took me, Dr. Green and Dr. Snowden, they both said that the work you want to provide there should be significant, something you care about and something you legitimately want to have feedback on and make better,” Lambert said.

While there are no necessary requirements needed to attend, Lambert stressed that the attendees should take the event seriously and learn something new in the field of sociology. She also believed that when submitting a paper, it should be well prepared and not a last-minute decision.

“Writing research papers is something I actually enjoy and something I kind of see myself doing for a career,” Lambert said. “I really want to use the feedback I got and use it to become a better writer myself and hopefully do well at the next conference as well.”

Lambert’s paper submitted into the competition was given an excellence ranking that helped her to win. The grant she received was a prize of 150 dollars.

“I started crying up there and I’m usually not a super emotional person,” Lambert said. “I’m really interested in going to graduate school and this competition was kind of a way to see whether or not I could live up to or be able to produce work that was graduate school ready.”

Lambert believes that she has the skills to go to graduate school and perform well in her academic adventures. She plans on taking a gap year after she graduates in order to build her resume and take internships. After, she intends to go to graduate school for sociology.

“I want to definitely dedicate my life to academia,” Lambert said. “I’m one of those weird people who loves college.”

Lambert will be attending the Midwest Sociological Conference in the upcoming spring in Chicago.