SUNY Plattsburgh’s independent student newspaper since 1997
FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 2022
VOLUME 106 - ISSUE 9
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Student Association election results All voting results are based on 1,011 participants.
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Guzzetta places first at conference BY ALEKSANDRA SIDOROVA Staff Writer
Lindsay Guzzetta, Kyle Pellerin, Jasmine Piper and Luke Rapaport presented their research in a competition at the American College of Sports Medicine’s (ACSM) Annual Spring Meeting in New York City Saturday, April 9. Guzzetta won first place in the abstract presentation competition with a prize of $500. Rapaport placed second in the graduate student division. “I felt very confident after [the presentation],” Guzzetta said. “Even if I didn’t, I knew I put my best out there.” In preparation for their presentations, the students met once a week with Dr. Andreas Stamatis, fitness and wellness leadership coordinator as well as the students’ research mentor. They finalized their projects by sending gift cards to research participants, doing extra readings, writing the abstract and obtaining funding for the trip. They also did mock three-minute presentations. Stamatis said the process was “stressful” as he and Guzzetta had only two weeks to finalize their re-
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search and submit it for ACSM’s contest by late March. Guzzetta is a junior majoring in fitness and wellness leadership, as well as a member of the lacrosse team. She researched whether female student athletes’ mental toughness —the skills needed to overcome obstacles in pursuit of goals — will improve from working on their weaknesses or their strengths. ACSM granted her $1,500 for this project in February. Guzzetta learned the process of conducting research first-hand. “Before doing this research, I didn’t even know [how] people did research,” Guzzetta said. “You had the idea, but you didn’t really know the process and the things that go into it, so it was a good learning experience.” Guzzetta said the conference let her “branch out.” She met many people and learned about their research. “You’re talking to a person, and you’re actually interested in what they’re saying because this is what you’re learning about,” Guzzetta said. “Anything that’s furthering your education in this type of way helps, honestly. I learned things this past weekend that I never knew about.”
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Guzzetta intends to complete another research project with Stamatis before she graduates. “[The conference] was such a good experience. I want to do more,” Guzzetta said. “I think any student should have that opportunity to do something like this if it’s for their major.” Like Guzzetta, Pellerin was inspired to do more research with Stamatis after attending his first ACSM conference in 2019. This time, he researched the effect of grit — “perseverance and consistency,” as the paper explained — on moderate-to-high-intensity physical activity during the pandemic. “Don’t be scared to ask for opportunities or take one you’re presented,” Pellerin said as advice to current students. “I feel a lot of people are nervous to take on the work because research is something that’s more focused toward grad school, so it could be intimidating.” Pellerin called himself a “super-super-senior,” graduating this semester after six years at SUNY Plattsburgh.
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