Transfer students present at Florida State University’s Undergraduate Research Symposium

Serving time in prison for a crime he committed at 18, 52-year-old Florida State University student Eddie Fordham may not have imagined he’d one day walk free, enroll in college and present his scholarship on recidivism at an undergraduate research symposium.

Fordham was one of more than 700 student researchers to present at FSU’s 25th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium — the largest one yet — hosted by the Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement (CRE) at the Student Union Ballrooms on April 1. About 100 of those students transferred to FSU from other institutions.

“Our mission is to make research opportunities accessible to all undergraduate students who wish to be involved,” said Latika Young, director of the CRE. “We believe that every student, regardless of their background or major, should have the chance to engage in meaningful research that enhances their academic experience and prepares them for future success.”

Fordham’s research project, “Evaluating Teen Court Success,” examines the diversionary Teen Court program in North Carolina and its influence on juvenile defendant rehabilitation.

His interest in that topic was borne out of his personal life journey, a story that underscores the transformative power of education.

“For me, education meant more than textbooks and long hours of study,” said Fordham, now majoring in public policy. “Education meant redemption.”

Inspired by books such as “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl and “Long Walk to Freedom” by Nelson Mandela, Fordham earned a high school diploma and vocational certificates during his 31-year incarceration. He became a tutor and eventually ran entire education departments within the prison.

Through the “Inside Out Program” at Miami-Dade College, he attended classes with those inside and outside of the prison. Fordham graduated with an associate degree from Miami-Dade College, landing on the dean’s list with a 4.0 GPA.

He worked as the peer mentorship program coordinator for the Alabama Prison Arts and Education Project at Auburn University and is now pursuing a bachelor’s degree at FSU, supported by the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, a selective national award for high achieving transfer students seeking degrees at four-year colleges or universities.

“Education instills a different set of values in a person,” Fordham said. “When people come out of prison, do we want them to come home in the same condition as when they went in, or do we want them to come out better?”

Since enrolling at FSU, Fordham has made the President’s List and joined the Omicron Delta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies.

When students transfer to FSU from other institutions and backgrounds, they bring with them the unique experiences they’ve gained along the way, making the university and its research ecosystem richer and more complex.

Jakyah Hayes came to FSU after graduating with honors from Tallahassee State College, where she participated in the Dr. Lei Wang STEM Program.

“I really excelled through the STEM program at TSC, which is where I found my love for research,” Hayes said.

After graduation, she participated in award-winning summer research funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation at the University of South Florida’s St. Petersburg campus about how transportation is disproportionately affected by natural disasters in different communities of Tampa Bay.

She jumped into the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) upon arriving at FSU, presenting at the symposium on her work to help create a website for FSU’s Anthropology Department and digitizing its collection of historic ceramics and other artifacts.

Diego Palacios, who transferred to FSU’s Tallahassee campus after receiving an associate degree from FSU’s Republic of Panama campus, presented the research he conducted through UROP that investigated the behavior of high-temperature superconducting tape, which is used in power grids, MRI machines, magnetic levitation trains and many other applications. The research project solidified for him his choice to pursue a degree in electrical engineering.

“I really like the hands-on experience, where I have to think to solve an actual problem,” said Palacios, an international student from Santiago, Panama. “I wanted to do something related to technology and engineering that would help make the world better.”

About one in every four students at FSU transfers from another place, including state and community colleges or other four-year institutions. Students can also transfer through the Seminole Pathways program, including the option to study abroad before coming to the Tallahassee campus, or enrolling in FSU Next, where students attend Tallahassee State College for one semester while attending an introductory course at FSU and then enrolling full time at FSU in the spring.

Pre-med exercise physiology student Brittany Mears enrolled at FSU after receiving an associate degree from Chipola College, near her hometown of Blountstown, Florida.

For her UROP project, she assisted in performing echocardiograms on a mouse model to better understand the role of genetic mutations in a heart disorder called dilated cardiomyopathy.

“I love where I’m from, and one day I hope to be able to give back to my community as a physician,” Mears said. “I came to FSU with the goal of going to medical school here and then going back home to take care of my community like they’ve taken care of me.”

The Undergraduate Research Symposium is one of the largest university-based symposia in the country and FSU’s only interdisciplinary, all-campus undergraduate research showcase. The symposium includes undergraduate students from all majors, representing various initiatives such as Honors in the Major and the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program.

“We want transfer students to engage in every opportunity available to them at FSU, including undergraduate research,” said Heather Bishop, assistant dean in Undergraduate Studies. “Our goal is to provide transfer students with the resources and support they need to make the most of their time at FSU, so they graduate ready for future success.”

For more information about the Undergraduate Research Symposium and Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement, visit cre.fsu.edu.

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