Student researchers shine at annual symposium
Rei Perez Muñoz admits that when they began their oral presentation at the SDSU Student Symposium (S3) on Feb. 27, they were feeling the butterflies in full effect.
"I was very, very anxious," said the master's student in child development. "It was also my first symposium, and so doing a new thing is always stressful. I think with anything, you start out nervous, and then you kind of settle into it.
"And then I was like, 'Yeah, I got this.'"
Apparently, the judges agreed.
One week later, Perez Muñoz crossed the stage at Montezuma Hall to receive the Dean's Award for her presentation "Bicultural Resilience Under Pressure: Discrimination and Health in Latine Youth." They were one of six College of Education students honored at the S3 2026 Awards Ceremony on March 6.
That included two other child development master's students, Stephanie Morales Linares (Dean's Award ) and Mia Herrerias (Provost’s Award). Nick Martin, a master's student from the Community-Based Block program, took home a Provost’s Award, as well.
Meanwhile, Postsecondary Educational Leadership and Student Affairs master's student Daniela Hernandez and Joint Ph.D. Program in Education doctoral student Elizabeth Nguyen received the Library Award. Nguyen’s experience at S3 is highlighted as part of our COE Stories video series.
Morales Linares won for her oral presentation "Los Caminos De La Vida: Family obligations, grit, gender & mental health in young Latino immigrants." Both she and Perez Muñoz are aspiring Ph.D.s who were inspired to explore their topics by their own lived experience coming from immigrant families. They were both mentored by — and analyzed data collected by — Associate Professor Vanja Lazarevic, an expert in supporting the well-being of immigrant and refugee youth and their families.
"As a Latina immigrant, and the eldest daughter too, I have all these responsibilities beyond me — but I feel like that also really motivates me to continue to work hard," Morales Linares explained. "So I just wanted to understand how these experiences manifest in other students, as well."
Added Perez Muñoz: "I think that I've been exceptionally lucky in the fact that my mom brought me to this country to try to better my chances in life. I've done everything that I can to take that opportunity and move forward with it. I think it is my duty as a member of my community to then try and better the lives of everybody else as well."
For Perez Muñoz, S3 ended up being a positive and productive experience — once those pesky butterflies subsided.
"I was surprised how much I appreciated the question-and-answer portion," they said. "I liked receiving a new interpretation of my research so I could put that into the work that I'm doing and make it a stronger argument."
College of Education S3 awardees
Dean’s Award
Winner: Stephanie Morales Linares, M.S. in Child Development
Oral Presentation: "Los Caminos De La Vida: Family obligations, grit, gender & mental health in young Latino immigrants"
Mentor: Vanja Lazarevic
Winner: Rei Perez Muñoz, M.S. in Child Development
Oral Presentation: "Bicultural Resilience Under Pressure: Discrimination and Health in Latine Youth"
Mentor: Vanja Lazarevic
Library Award
Winner: Daniela Hernandez, M.A. in Postsecondary Educational Leadership and Student Affairs
Oral Presentation: "Hot Take: Can AI be used for STEM Servingness?"
Mentor: Felisha Herrera Villarreal
Winner: Elizabeth Nguyen, Joint Ph.D. Program in Education
Oral Presentation: "Gatekeeping in STEM: Sense of Belonging Among Students in Introductory Biology and Chemistry"
Mentor: Felisha Herrera Villarreal
Provost’s Award
Winner: Mia Herrerias, M.S. in Child Development
Poster Presentation: "Empowering parents through ‘The Whole-Brain Child’: A teacher-action research project"
Mentor: Sascha Longstreth
Winner: Nick Martin, Community Based-Block (M.S.)
Poster Presentation: "The Homebase Homerun"
Mentor: Ricky Pope
