On January 23, I had the honor of presenting my work with the Check It project at Tulane University’s “Conceiving Equity.” Along with my fellow Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Health Interns, I had the opportunity to share the work that I have been a part of for over a year now. Following poster presentations, the interns and other attendees had the pleasure of listening to the expertise of Dr. Monica McLemore. I am so lucky to be a part of such an inspirational cohort of researchers and leaders.
This experience helped me grow immensely as a researcher and reproductive rights and health advocate. I learned a lot about presenting my research findings. At the beginning of the night, I struggled a little bit to put into words my year-long work. However, as more and more people came to talk to me about my poster, I developed confidence and familiarity with explaining my research. This was the first in what I hope to be a long career of presenting my work. It was illuminating to hear what questions people had about my work. The experience of answering questions helped me understand what aspects of my work I could be more clear about and what parts of my work were most interesting to the community.
The greatest lesson of the night was the importance of sharing work with the community. Especially in community based work, it is essential that researchers don’t keep their findings only within the academic bubble. Sharing with the community is beneficial to all parties involved and creates inspiration and hope. I am so grateful to be within a community fighting hard for reproductive rights, justice, and health.