Saint Mary's Newsroom

For a psychology student, having the opportunity to put Mayo Clinic as an internship site on your résumé is a real attention-getter. Saint Mary’s senior Nick Sawchuk is hoping his experiences at the renowned Rochester medical facility will help him stand out in pursuing his dream to become a pediatric psychologist.

Sawchuk has interned in the Department of Psychology and Psychiatry at Mayo Clinic for the past year and a half during which he has worked both summer months and school breaks. His role involves research, data entry, chart extraction, and analysis on a variety of clinical studies. Working closely with fellows, physicians, and statisticians, he’s also been collaborating on publishing manuscripts.

“Everything here is a team effort, which is how I work best,” said Sawchuk who also serves as captain of the Saint Mary’s swim team, dive team, and water polo team. “It’s great having the support of world-renowned physicians and fellows. The community here is super positive.”

The Rochester native said he was originally a biology major with a psychology minor, but after reexamining which classes he enjoyed (and excelled in) most and after seeing the type of career opportunities at Mayo Clinic, he switched to a psychology major and a biology minor.

“There’s a battle between psych and bio on which discipline is the true science, so to speak,” explained Sawchuk with a laugh. “Originally I wanted to be a pediatric psychiatrist, where I would be focusing on medication management and course of treatment, but I decided I wanted to be more hands-on and work in the area of cognitive behavioral therapy and become a pediatric clinical psychologist instead.”

He would especially like to focus on the connection between eating disorders and chronic pain, a path which he says was inspired by the research he’s doing at Mayo Clinic.

“There’s not a lot of research around eating disorders and chronic pain in conjunction with each other. It’s a very important field because a child’s pain often affects their eating,” Sawchuk explained.

In fact, he decided to do his senior thesis on the relationship between eating and body image and a person’s overall functioning, carrying this same topic a bit further. “As a student athlete, I constantly watch what I eat and make sure I’m getting the calories I need to perform well,” Sawchuk said. “The same sort of thing goes with these eating disorders. Sometimes the reason why these kids aren’t functioning properly is because they don’t have enough food in their system.”

Sawchuk is being exposed to many different types of studies at Mayo Clinic, which is helping him develop a more diverse background in the field.

For example, he’s recently been working on a neurocognitive study about children with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a psychosomatic disorder where patients experience intense autonomic symptoms. Among these symptoms, difficulty concentrating is prominent. After these children take different performance tests, the data is analyzed to see if they have any cognitive deficits.

“Compiling data can be messy sometimes. It’s such a rewarding feeling when you finish a data set, everything is clean, and everything works,” explained Sawchuk, who is working under the supervision of Michelle Skime M’15, a Saint Mary’s alumna. “The research I’m involved with is primarily about finding validation for specific studies, instead of exploration.”

The student athlete is preparing to go to graduate school after he finishes his undergraduate degree. He’s hopeful the experience he’s gaining in this internship will help him get his foot in the door.

“It’s important to have a diverse clinical and research background. They want to see research experience and experience relevant to what you’re specializing in,” explained Sawchuk.

Through his internship, he’s also gained a base knowledge of data entry and analysis using important statistical data software like SPSS, JMP, and R, some of which he was first introduced to in courses at Saint Mary’s.

Sawchuk is grateful for the opportunities he’s had at Mayo Clinic and is looking forward to his final year at Saint Mary’s.

“Saint Mary’s has helped me grow as a person and as a leader. It’s taught me to be confident, to ask questions, and to take initiative,” said Sawchuk. “Being involved in sports and groups like Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) has helped bring my faith and sports together, and it’s also helped me bring other people together and excel.”

It’s been nearly three months since our new President, the Rev. James P. Burns, has joined Saint Mary’s. Several internal and external community welcome receptions have since taken place in Winona, Minneapolis, and Rochester to help him get acquainted with the university. Check out the links below to see news coverage associate with these events and Father Burns:

• Father Burns’ new calling: Grow Saint Mary’s, Post Bulletin
• Father Burns radio interview with Greg Taylor, Leighton Broadcasting
• Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota welcomes new president, Fox 47
• ‘Hopefully, I’ll lead by example’: Q&A with the Rev. James P. Burns, Saint Mary’s new president, Winona Daily News
• Burns vows to maintain Saint Mary’s momentum in first visit as president, Winona Daily News
• Guest view: What we’ve learned about Winona, Winona Daily News
• New leader at the helm of St. Mary’s, Winona Post
• Guest Opinion: What we have learned about Winona, Winona Post

Photo caption: Father Burns, left, talks with community members at the Rochester Community Welcome July 27.

We greeted enthusiastic first-year and transfer students during Welcome Week and provided a special program of activities to help them to connect to each other and the university; to engage with their new home and the broader community; to understand and prepare for the expectations of learning and living at college; and to know the resources available to help them succeed. Popular special sessions were led by faculty and staff who volunteered to share their interests or favorite local spots. The engagement continued during the first week of classes with the student activities and clubs fair and fun community-building events each night.

This summer, nine Saint Mary’s University students worked on site at the X Games Minneapolis 2018 gaining knowledge in fan experience, business operations, sports marketing, and more. Through the X Games Student Work Program sophomores Isabel Bettag, Hannah Crowe, Courtney Moser, Grace Mulcahy; juniors Blair Sanders and Spencer Smec; seniors Caroline Hoffman, and Alyssa Thiel; and 2018 alumna Sarah Egbert received valuable first-hand experience to put on their résumés. Taking place this year July 19-22 at the U.S. Bank Stadium, the X Games brings top athletes in sports such as skateboarding, BMX, Moto X, and more from around the world to compete. Saint Mary’s was one of only four schools chosen to participate in the Summer X Games Student Work Program. All Saint Mary’s students were assigned to work at X Fest, the outdoor action sports festival experience that showcases vendors and fun activities. Read the full story.

Photo caption: Saint Mary’s junior Blair Sanders works with youth at the X Fest through the Summer X Games Student Work Program.

Saint Mary’s University students Fabian Alvarez ’19 and Emma Mockler ’20 attended a two-week student conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in collaboration with students from other Lasallian colleges and universities worldwide. Focusing on leadership and global understanding, this annual program is sponsored by the International Association for Lasallian Universities. This year’s program followed the 2017-18 theme of “Lasallians without Limits,” emphasizing the increasing globalization and skills needed by leaders to understand how actions, decisions, and policies go beyond the borders of communities, states, and nations. With the goal of continuing to build a strong international global Lasallian community, students worked in groups to understand life, politics, and cultures in other countries. Students also engaged in service learning activities, intercultural and cultural understanding, community leadership, and pedagogy that encouraged students to take responsibility for their own learning.

The annual Cardinal ‘M’ Club Weekend has proven to be a great way to look at the past, present, and future of Cardinal athletics. Earlier this month, the university honored student-athletes and alumni for their accomplishments in competition and in the classroom during the ‘M’ Club Awards Ceremony. Receiving Outstanding Male and Female Athlete awards were Griffin Rades (men’s swimming and diving) and Becca Dup (soccer, track and field). Jay Heinle (men’s hockey) and Emily Loof (women’s soccer) were honored as Outstanding Male and Female Scholar Athletes. In addition, two new members were inducted into the Saint Mary’s Sports Hall of Fame. The Cardinal ‘M’ Club, in association with the Saint Mary’s Alumni Office, welcomed Roger Pytlewski ’66 (men’s basketball) and Angie Wright ’00 (fastpitch softball). The weekend also featured a golf outing, alumni games, and varsity athletic contents. Check out the photo gallery from the ‘M’ Club ceremony.

Photo caption: From left, Father James Burns, Saint Mary’s president; Jay Heinle, Outstanding Male Scholar Athlete; Griffin Rades, Outstanding Male Athlete; and Becca Dup, Outstanding Female Athlete. Not pictured: Emily Loof, Outstanding Female Scholar Athlete.

As senior chemistry majors at Saint Mary’s, David Kemper and Allison Miller spend quite a bit of time working in a lab. But now, with a new ThermoFischer Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer, they will spend less valuable time waiting to analyze compounds. Answers are literally at their fingertips within a minute or two. By using this new gas chromatograph (GC), coupled to a mass spectrometer (MS), Saint Mary’s students are now able to separate, identify, and quantify complex mixtures of chemicals at a whole new level. Far more advanced than the university’s previous GC-MS Capability, this new equipment will be highly utilized by students in the teaching labs for organic chemistry, quantitative chemical analysis, environmental toxicology, and instrumental analysis. It is also the main instrument of analysis for senior chemistry and biology research projects. Read the full story.

Photo caption: Chemistry majors Allison Miller ’19 and David Kemper ’19 use the new Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer.

As a way to create a vibrant campus and transformational residential life experience, a series of monthly classes called Teaching Kitchen are being held with Chartwells Chef Jim Esser and Saint Mary’s Dietitian Sarah Nicklay. Teaching Kitchen offers education in basic cooking techniques in addition to enhanced nutrition. The initial classes, held during Welcome Weekend, involved 25 student participants. These students learned how to properly use a knife and used these skills to make pico de gallo and pineapple mango salsa. At the end of the class, the students ate their creations with chicken fajitas and took their salsas and recipes home with them. The first class was free to participants, and the upcoming classes will cost one meal swipe. The next Teaching Kitchen class will be held in October with a theme of eating local. The class will begin with a trip to the Winona Farmer’s Market to purchase ingredients.