Five Reasons Why You Should Attend Conferences as a Student

If you are an undergraduate student and reading this, your first thought is likely to be: "I know a couple of reasons why I shouldn't attend a conference." Concerns such as travel and participation costs, not being ready to publish your research, and the good old "talking with people is not really my thing." I understand where you are coming from because I've been there. Well, there's good news! The financial and research issues are easy to overcome: volunteer. Conferences need volunteers, and organizers usually reward you for your services with a free conference registration and sometimes even a t-shirt. This is exactly what I did in my junior year, and it was an eye-opener. Here are my five reasons why you should try it too.