On September 13, 2025, six students from Students in Technology, Academia, Research, and Service (STARS) Alliance at Florida State University attended and presented at the National STARS Celebration in Dallas, Texas. The STARS Celebration connects the next generation of computing leaders and hosts a space for participation in computing through education, mentorship, and collaboration. The attending STARS at FSU students were Bella Bozied, Paige Elkin, Sophia Ferraro, Natalie Johnstone, Orion Qualls, and Tanya Raphael.

“This Celebration allowed me to see what it means to be a member of STARS at different universities and share ideas so that we can help support these other chapters,” shared FSU STARS Alliance Research Assistant Natalie Johnstone.

The six FSU STARS students completed a group presentation, presented five posters, and won two awards. For many of these students, this was their first experience with the National STARS Alliance. Beyond their personal accomplishments at the Celebration, the FSU STARS students also attended several presentations from other STARS students from other institutions, allowing them to engage with and learn about the greater STARS community.

“I didn’t realize how large and far-reaching STARS really is. The conference gave me a much clearer picture of the organization’s scope and inner workings,” said STARS member Orion Qualls.

The FSU STARS presenters discussed research topics ranging from alumni community maintenance to AI leadership and K-12 Outreach. Johnstone won second place in the People’s Choice category for Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) Research despite this being her first poster presentation ever, and fellow STARS member Tanya Raphael was also recognized for her presentation about STARS at FSU K-12 Outreach.

“Overall, I accredit all the passion and success that we had in Dallas to all the things that we learn in STARS, from how to be confident to being polite when others are speaking,” Raphael said.

A large takeaway across all of the FSU STARS students was the importance of community, the realization of chapter impact, and the strength of ambition within STARS. STARS at FSU is also continuing its involvement through other events, including the Technology Student Association (TSA) Leadership Training Conference on October 22-25 in Orlando, Florida.

“Conferences like this remind me that our small, gradual efforts add up, and those ripples of change spread much farther than we realize,” said Qualls.