One of ASLO’s guiding principles is to recruit and support undergraduate, graduate, and early career individuals to the aquatic sciences. Upon hearing that the Limnology class at Auburn University (Alabama) was interested in attending the 2013 meeting in New Orleans, ASLO put their principles to practice and invited the students, free of charge, to attend the meeting for one day. Five Auburn University undergraduate and graduate students, with diverse research interests including aquaculture, veterinary sciences, conservation ecology, and limnology, had the privilege to attend ASLO 2013. The five of us attended the ASLO meeting with the intent to learn about various research areas related to limnology and oceanography, to confirm our study interests, and to find our research niche. Despite our diverse interests, we all left the meeting feeling we had benefited intellectually from attending. There are some things that cannot be achieved by taking classes or running experiments. It is essential for students in science to understand the direction their intended fields are heading and to identify others who are conducting relevant research to develop effective collaborations. Scientific meetings, such as ASLO, encourage information