Posters to power: students own the stage

For the past few years, students from the Applied Physiology, Health and Clinical Sciences department have been gathering inside Belk Gym to share information about their research, clinicals, practicums and internships via posters.

They deliver their pitches (maybe sounding a little shaky at first but pretty solid by the end of the event) to attendees ranging from faculty and students to family members and site preceptors.

“We want the students to not only have an opportunity to showcase their work but also gain experience presenting,” said Senior Lecturer Brenda Ward who leads the Experiential Learning Student Showcase. “It gets them out of their comfort zone and helps them develop public speaking skills in a less intimidating and less competitive environment.”

About 45 students participated in the fall 2025 showcase, including exercise science student Regan Terry who created a poster about her experience interning with the UNC Charlotte’s women’s basketball team.

It took Terry a couple weeks to finalize the poster because “I was overthinking it,” she said. “Ultimately, working on the poster made me more open to what I want my future to look like and presenting the information has made me open to doing more things like this such as speaking on a panel.” 

Caley Morgan’s poster highlighted her internship with Carolina Kinder Development, a pediatric therapy practice in Charlotte. “Making the poster didn’t take me too long because they provided me with so much information while I was there,” Morgan said. “It took me about a week to get everything together and finalized.”

Morgan, who will graduate with an exercise science degree next month, hoped the showcase would inform fellow students about the types of internships available within their area of study. “I attended this showcase two years ago because I was interested in an internship,” Morgan said. “It’s where students can gain insight into different kinds of opportunities.”