From April 10-13, 2024, I attended the 16th Annual Conference of Social & Affective
Neuroscience Society (SANS), held in Toronto, Canada. This was my first time attending a conference and presenting a poster.

The main purpose of attending this conference was to do a poster presentation for my Honors thesis in Psychology, titled “Differences in Oxytocin Response to Helping as a Function of Cultural Orientation and Helping Target.” During the poster session, professors, postdocs, graduate students, and post-bac lab managers from different universities and countries came to my poster to learn more about my work, ask questions, and provide constructive feedback. These meaningful conversations and constructive feedback are very helpful for my future research. I was very glad that I had the opportunity to share my research at an international conference and receive constructive feedback from scholars in the field of my interest.

In addition to presenting my poster, I also attended 5 symposiums, 2 keynotes, and 3 award talks to learn more about the most recent research topics in the field of social and affective neuroscience. The topics of the symposiums included 1) Intergroup Relations; 2) the Neurocognitive Dynamics Fostering Social Connection and Agreement in Conversation; 3) Neuroscience of Narration; 4) Neural, Network, and Neural Network Approaches for Social Relational Representation; and 5) A.I. Approaches to Social & Affective Neuroscience. The topics of keynotes were Deconstructing Emotions and Making Memories in Mice. In the Early Career Award Talk, the Mid Career Award Talk, and the Distinguished Scholar Talk, the speakers shared their journeys to their current career stage and the research being conducted in their labs. These talks not only provided an opportunity for me to learn more about the most recent research being conducted in the field, but they were also helpful for me to generate new research questions. Also, those scholars’ journeys to their current career stage were very inspiring; I learned that we would certainly encounter challenges in our career, but those challenges could lead to new opportunities and personal growth.

Furthermore, I also attended the special events that SANS held this year, including Mentor-Mentee Kickoff, “Comic SANS,” Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Justice (EDIJ) Symposium, Round Table & Lunch, and EDIJ Meet-Up & Happy Hour. First, this year, SANS matched mentees with mentors based on research interests, and I was matched with a professor. At the Mentor-Mentee Kickoff event, I had the chance to discuss my research ideas with the mentor as well as connect with other mentees. Second, this year, SANS introduced “Comic SANS,” which was a comedy showcase of social/affective neuroscientists and the research topics they love. I enjoyed seeing those scientists perform stand-up and comedic readings. Third, this year, SANS held a EDIJ Symposium on Socioeconomic Diversity or Disadvantage, which was a special session featuring voices often marginalized in academic discourse: scholars from socioeconomically diverse or disadvantaged backgrounds. It was very inspiring to hear those scholars share their experiences of navigating the complexities of socioeconomic diversity or disadvantage within academia and beyond. Those scholars encouraged students to take initiative to ask mentors questions because mentors are usually happy to help when students have questions. There was also a program officer from National Institute on Aging sharing information about programs, fellowships, and grants dedicated to supporting socioeconomically diverse or disadvantaged scholars. Fourth, at the Round Table & Lunch event, I joined the table with the topic of Navigating the Mentor-Mentee Relationship from the Mentee Perspective. During this event, I had the chance to connect with other students who are at the similar career stage, including post-bac lab managers, first-year graduate students, and second-year graduate students, and get some great advice from the two postdocs who led the discussion at our table. Fifth, at the EDIJ Meet-Up & Happy Hour event, I had the chance to talk with several professors as well as graduate students and discuss research ideas with them.

In conclusion, the connections I made and the meaningful conversations I had with other scholars in the conference are very helpful for my academic career, as I’ll be pursuing a PhD in Experimental Psychology at Oklahoma State University in Fall 2024, and those scholars I met in the conference might become my future collaborators. I’m very grateful for this travel award from AAPI Mentorship Network, and I strongly encourage other students to apply for this travel award and attend a conference in the future.