As the years pass, Southern University continues to grow and improve the student experience. This can be seen in the great organizations and clubs on campus. Despite having great communities on campus, some students may not be aware of their existence. An organization that may fall under this category is VR Jags. A wonderful organization that may not be receiving much attention. To learn more about the organization, the Office of Student Media spoke with the VR Jags Executive Director for Outreach and Research Engagement, Ms. Deidre Street, as well as other members of the organization.
“We have a funded project called Southern University Reaching Across the Digital Divide that focuses on developing content or transforming STEM content in virtual spaces for middle school teachers to use in their classrooms. That project was funded in 2021, and through that funding, we were able to train approximately twelve to thirteen graduate students and six undergraduate students to some of that work. I would say 2022 was when the students came together. We didn’t give it a name until last year”, explained Street.
“We meet every Thursday from eleven to twelve. And when new ideas are presented, we talk about them as a group, and then assignments are made based on your expertise is. Also, we are looking for any major as long as you bring something to the table. For instance, you don’t necessarily know how to code, but if you have an idea of how your background can be utilized in VR, then the experts that we do have that are working and building scenarios in those virtual environments can assist you”, said Street.
Jaden Martin, a Junior majoring in Mechanical Engineering, shared his experience with the organization. “When I first joined the team, I didn’t have any type of coding experience. So I was an example of actually being trained on the fly by the graduate students and faculty. I was able to understand the basics of the science of what’s going on behind virtual reality. And over time, I learned how to conduct research the right way and how to structure and write a research paper.”
“I was blessed with the opportunity to go to San Francisco and present my work. And some of the members from that team got published. So now I can say I have published research. That really opened a lot of doors for me and opened my perspective about graduate school. My experience has been great. I’ve learned a lot. This has really helped me professionally and personally,” Martin explained.
With this new information, it was time to find out if other students knew of VR Jags. “I have not heard of VR Jags,” said Freshman electrical engineering major, Agyei Randolph. “VR means virtual reality, so I think it’s an organization that provides more experiences and learning with STEM majors. I’m not interested at the moment, I will think about it more. VR Jags is a good addition. It will help more Jags get an image of engineering.”
Organizations such as VR Jags have provided students with the much-needed tools for success. With the right support, they can have a greater effect. Any students who are interested in joining, can find the organization meeting on Thursdays from 11-12pm in Pinchback Hall, room 110.
