When the Leaves Change...

Fall is here in Erie, and I have reminded myself so much why I love this season. It has been a while since my last post so I have a bit to cover now, but most of my fall adventures have revolved around my major, Biology!

Its beginning to look like fall at Mercyhurst as the leaves are changing!!

Last weekend was our Fall Break off of school. The extended weekend away from Mercyhurst right after midterms always seems so wonderful to me, but this year it was a productive weekend. I went home to the Cleveland area and had an opportunity to job shadow. Since I am a Biology major, I've been looking at many different career paths. Fall break became the best when I had the opportunity to shadow Dr. Kathleen Skoch. 

Dr. Skoch is a very well known pediatrician with her own practice, Neighborhood Pediatrics. I admire her for a few reasons: one, because in Cleveland she is well recognized and respected; two, she recieved her degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine; and lastly, she was so kind and accommodating towards teaching me the ropes of her business. Also I was able to spend some time in her office with her co-doctors and their nurses. All fabulous women who added toward such a positive experience for me!

In sticking with things going on in my academic life, I had some other cool biology moments when we got back into classes this week. During my Field Ecology class this term we are going some independent research in the Erie area for our laboratory portion. As a pre-health focus it has been definitely a challenge to come up with and implement something that is able to be proven ecologically. However my group was up for the challenge. Sticking with the season we are studying a bit about leaf coloration in Erie, and the differences in the amount of sunlight the leaves get. We are calculating the change in coloration via the percent of green left in the leaf. So far so cool!

This fall term I am also taking a Biology class for Human Anatomy. Just as it sounds we are taking this term to really delve into the human body and learn more about muscles, nerves, bones, and their structures and functions. I was most looking forward to this class because I feel like it would be very telling if I was capable of going forward with my pre-health degree. I can confidently say that I love this class and it has confirmed my passion for the future. 

In our lab portion this week, my fellow classmates and I had the opportunity to go out to our cadaver lab at the North East campus. As a senior this wasn't my first time out at the lab, but I am also hoping it won't be the last. The cadaver lab out a North East campus is something different that Mercyhurst offers that really makes us "the small-school with really big opportunities." Hirtzel Lab is a $1.2 million mega-lab at the North East  campus that houses our  four cadavers, a standard feature for medical schools that is unique to our small private college. Students use this for this for both undergraduates and graduate programs, including: Anthropology, Exercise Science, Sportsmedicine, and Biology majors.

SO many good and cool things going on this fall!

Until next time, 

Adrianne