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Neuroscience major Jessie Scarlett '22 has served a high-level internship and is currently working with two faculty members on original research projects. She's also a teaching assistant for two academic departments. But Jessie makes time to unwind too, through Dickinson's rock-climbing, swing-dance, club-swimming and improv-comedy groups, and by giving back through service trips. 

Hometown:

Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.

Major: 

Neuroscience.

Clubs and organizations:  

Dickinson Climbing Team, Center for Civic Learning & Action (service coordinator), Departments of Biology and Psychology (teaching assistant), club swimming and the Run With It! improv comedy group.

Honors/scholarships/awards:

Alpha Lambda Delta.

Favorite book:

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.

Favorite movie:

Christmas Vacation.

Best thing about my Dickinson experience:

How many new things I have tried. My first year, I had never been on a rock wall before, and now senior year, I am on the Climbing Team Exec Board; I have been climbing consistently for three years now. I also like how most clubs encourage new members to come, allowing me to try other things like basketball, chess and swing dance, which I had not done before Dickinson.

Best thing about my major:

The ability to take nearly any upper-level class in biology, chemistry, psychology and neuroscience. I like how multidisciplinary the neuroscience major is, and because of that, I have been able to do research and take classes in many different topics. I did not come to college knowing exactly what I wanted to study, so having many options has helped me figure out my path.  

Favorite place on campus:  

The snow globe on the second floor of the library.

Favorite Dining Hall food:

Sweet and sour chicken.

Favorite class/learning experience so far:

Probably Neuroscience 200. It was an extremely hard class, but it was one of the first times I was able to study something I take a personal interest in. I felt like I learned a lot of information that helped me in my other classes. Outside of my major, my all-time favorite class was in the music department, and it was all about rock ‘n roll music. I was able to write essays and do a project on an artist of my choice, and I learned about all kinds of music from previous generations.  

Little-known hobby/talent:

I like to take pictures on film cameras.

Post-Dickinson plans:

I plan to apply to research positions and cognitive psychology graduate programs.

ºìÐÓÖ±²¥app my internship:

I interned this past summer at the Center for Biologic Imaging at The University of Pittsburgh. I worked on tracing and counting neurons in mouse brains. I worked with ribbon-scanning microscopes. I learned how to prepare tissues for microscopy. I also learned what it was like to work full-time in a research setting and how to work with professionals who know a lot more than me.

As I kid, I wanted to be …

… a rock star!

ºìÐÓÖ±²¥app my research:

This year, I am working with Assistant Professor of Psychology Azriel Grysman on his research about autobiographical memory and with Professor of Psychology Anthony Rauhut on a project about anxiety levels in mice. I decided to take on both of these projects because both are of interest to me, and I think both will help me decide what I would like to pursue in graduate school. I am learning a lot about group collaboration, how to conduct experiments with animals and human participants and how to run proper data analysis.  

If I could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, it would be …

… Miley Cyrus.

ºìÐÓÖ±²¥app my service trips:

I am a service trip coordinator for the Center for Civic Learning & Action. I have been very active with service trips since my first year. First, I went on a trip to South Carolina, and it was the best experience of my first year at Dickinson. That inspired me to apply to be a trip leader, so in January of 2020, I led a service trip to Nashville. Last year, I was a service trip coordinator, but not much was done because of COVID.

This year, I am very excited to plan and lead a trip in Carlisle over fall pause and hopefully plan some out-of-state trips next semester.  The fall-pause trip centers on homelessness in the area, and we tentatively are planning to help St. Paul Lutheran Church renovate low-income apartments in Carlisle, partner with the Salvation Army to serve a meal, and maybe do a project with Community CARES.

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Published October 15, 2021