Claire Strysick, C’23

Biology major, chemistry minor, pre-med track, Prof. Kikis Laboratory research assistant, Student Government Association vice president, Student Title IX Committee chair

I have wanted to go on the pre-med trip to Spain since my freshman year, and finally got to do it this summer. We spent two weeks working at the university hospital in Burgos, where I shadowed pediatrics and gynecology. No one spoke English, so I probably got better at Spanish in those two weeks than I did in the previous two years of studying! It was such a good way to immerse myself in a different culture. And as someone who wants to go into the healthcare profession, I think it was an invaluable experience to get to know a different system than the one in the U.S. and see another way that patient care can look. Later in the summer, I had an ACE internship with Dr. Clark Files, C’99, at Wake Forest University, who's a Sewanee alumnus and a research physician. I worked in his research lab and shadowed within the ICU, which helped me see how his work with patients complemented his research studies. Because we had both been Sewanee students and as I really want to become a research physician like him, it was great to be able to talk to him about the path he took to get where he is. He really became a mentor who could give advice and have conversations about what's next.

I’ve always been interested in research. My mom has a Ph.D. in psychology and she's been a researcher her whole life—when I was little, I’d sit in her rat and pigeon lab and watch Sesame Street. But through my time in a research laboratory at Sewanee and a summer full of research, it really opened up my eyes to just how much I love it. You take these science classes and they're interesting, but some of it seems so conceptual. You're talking about these tiny cells, and it's like, "OK, I understand it, but I don't see it." What's awesome about research is that you actually get to see it. And I think that’s one of the unique things about Sewanee: There is so much research happening here and there are so many ways for students to get involved. I have had the opportunity to do hands-on research for nearly three years, build relationships with faculty, go to conferences, and start to establish myself within this field. That isn't something that every college student gets to do. So I’m grateful because I’ve been able to do more than just figure out what I want to do for a future career—I’ve had the chance to already start doing it.