Student Spotlight: Jacey Merkle

Here at SDSM&T we have a growing and thriving community of pre-health students. Today, we are shining a spotlight on Jacey Merkle. Jacey is an applied biological science major. She is interested in neuroscience and plans to pursue a Ph.D. degree in that field. We caught up with Jacey to ask her about her pre-health journey and how she is preparing for a career in health care.

What kinds of research have you been involved in while being a student? What did you learn from those experiences? 

My freshman year, I did research with halobacteria, analyzing their halocin interactions. From this I learned a lot about the types of work you do in a microbiology lab. My sophomore year continuing on to this year, I am involved with a Quality Improvement research project with the Rapid City Regional Health Neurology Clinic. I learned what it's like to work as a neurologist in a clinic, learned about presentations and proposals, and what the process for submitting a manuscript for publication looks like. The summer after my sophomore year, I did research in the Analytical Lab at POET Research in Sioux Falls, where I learned a lot about the ethanol production process, compositional analysis, and creating NIR methods. 

I hear you have interesting summer plans. What can you tell us about what you will be doing?

This summer I will be living in Central Asia for an internship and ministry work. The internship involves working with EEG technology and doing research in neuroplasticity.

What kinds of volunteering do you do?

I have done lots of volunteering at my church, and have additionally coordinated a high school outreach volunteer project for the Future Health Science Professionals Club.

What do you do when you aren’t studying, conducting research, or volunteering?

In my free time, I love to read and spend time talking with people. I like to explore nature, doing things like hiking, watching meteor showers, and visiting lakes.

How do you manage stress?

I am fairly good at avoiding stress in the first place by allocating time well all throughout the semester, instead of just before big things in my classes. When I do get stressed though, I manage it by determining which tasks hold the highest priority, working hard to do those things well, and making sure to give myself mental breaks by periodically doing things like playing pool or taking a walk with friends.

What advice do you have for our freshman pre-health students?

My advice for freshman pre-health students would be to prioritize all the things in your life, and allocate time accordingly. This will look different for every person, so make sure you spend some time in introspection to find what it looks like for you. Get enough sleep, find a good group of people to surround yourself with, and make things easy for your future self by completing tasks as they come up. As far as homework is concerned, make sure you understand what you are doing, instead of striving only to find the correct answer. Also, find time to read the relevant chapters in your textbooks. This extra exposure to the material will help immensely!