Riley Sanderson
Juniors Nelson Kanistras, Lindsey Miller, Allison Poquette, and Jeremiah Goodwin pose next to their AP Seminar project, titled "Fast fashion in Asia."
Symposium is an annual tradition at Oviedo where AP Seminar, AP Research, experimental research, culinary, photography, and art students have the opportunity to exhibit their work and talents to their peers. The event is held in the school’s media center each year and holds an event during the school day for students to attend during their English classes, and another event in the evening for parents and other members of the community to attend.
This year, Symposium’s student event was held on Thursday Feb. 22, welcoming hundreds of students to observe and learn about the various topics presented by the participating students.
“My favorite part of Symposium is when people show genuine interest in what I’m talking about,” said junior Josh Mueller. “It’s very rewarding because we’ve spent so long working on these projects and it’s nice to see other people care.”
Mueller, an AP Research student, presented on the languages of the Miccosukee and Seminole Creek Native Americans as a project titled Perspectives on Seminole and Miccosukee Language Preservation Efforts.
“I picked this topic because I am a descendant of the Indigenous people of Puerto Rico, the Taino Indians,” said Mueller. “Indigenous language preservation is important to me because the Taino language has gone extinct.”
Many other students involved in Symposium related to their project topics in unique ways as well. For example, sophomore Anya Boga did an experimental research project, titled Quantifying Enzymatic Activity of the Ayurvedic medicinal plant, Gymnema sylvestre, in an attempt to find if the Ayurvedic plant had anti-diabetic properties through enzyme inhibition.
“I chose this because my grandpa has suffered from diabetes,” said Boga. “I knew I was interested in doing something related to diabetes and looking more into the natural side of medicine with the ayurvedic plant.”
Along with Boga’s, there were also several other scientific and medical related exhibits. However, not all were as experimental. AP Seminar student, junior Kiara Jimenez Fuentes, tackled a larger issue in the privatized medical industry with an exhibit titled Holding Privatized Pharmaceutical Companies Accountable.
“This is important because so many people can’t access medications because they’re too expensive,” said Jimenez Fuentes. “We want to find a way to make universal healthcare a reality for all Americans.”
Symposium 2024 was mostly composed of AP Seminar, AP Research, and experimental research students, but there were also several student artists and photographers exhibiting their pieces as well. Senior Diego Lara, a photographer for the Oviedian Yearbook, titled his exhibit Photojournalism, which contained many student life and athletic photos.
“My favorite piece is called Levitating. It’s a photo of the basketball boys getting warmed up before a game,” said Lara. “It’s my favorite because it took some time to set it up to get the perfect shot.”
As another year of Symposium at Oviedo came to an end, many students involved reflected on the importance of the event itself.
“My favorite part of Symposium is just seeing all of the creative minds at Oviedo High School come together and get to show off their different ideas and skills,” said AP Seminar student, junior Nelson Kanistras, whose exhibit was on Fast fashion in Asia.
The exchange of ideas, knowledge, and opinions is what makes Symposium a prominent tradition at Oviedo, a school containing several of the leaders of the next generation.
“My favorite part [of Symposium] are the interactions with other people,” said junior Juan Santos Plaza, whose experimental research exhibit was titled Assessment of Diabetes Knowledge Among the Population. “…getting to learn a lot of things that you didn’t know, and the minds of the people of the new generation are my favorite part as well.”