Throughout the spring and summer, we'll be honoring our senior student-athletes with a "Senior Salute" series. Today's featured senior is Kera Sells, a neuroscience major from Westland, Michigan. Sells is a member of the swimming and diving team.

Q: Why did you choose to attend The College of Wooster?
A: I chose Wooster because I really liked the atmosphere of the campus when I came to visit. I also thought the Independent Study aspect was a good way to practice research and wanted to experience that. I also wanted to swim in college, and I was able to swim at Wooster.

Q: What does it mean to you to be a Fighting Scot student-athlete?
A: Being a Fighting Scot student-athlete means that you are determined in both school and athletics and have great time management skills in order to juggle both.

Q: What are some of your favorite memories as a student at The College of Wooster?
A: My favorite memories are usually hanging with my friends after practices or after meets and having fun. I also enjoyed the study sessions in the library or science building, which usually resulted in breaks to the C-store to get snacks and coffee and breaks to chat. I also enjoyed our time off where we could go into town on the weekends and go into shops and restaurants. Going on our winter training trips and spending some time on campus over break for swimming was always fun and a great bonding experience for the team. Finally, another good memory was hammocking in the Oak Grove when the weather was nice.

Q: What's the best part about being a student-athlete at The College of Wooster?
A: The best part is being able to do both. I've always liked being able to go to school and then have a break from homework and thinking about work while being at swim practices. It also helps keep me in shape while at school.

Q: What else were you involved with on campus besides your sport?
A: I'm involved in, or have been involved in, the Women's Athletic and Recreation Association (WARA), the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Worthy Questions, Wooster Community Hospital's Health Coach Program, Pre-Health Club, and Neuroscience Club. I've always had a lifeguarding job, lab assistant job, and building monitor job on campus.

Q: Which College of Wooster faculty or staff member has made the greatest impact on you and why?
A: I think my advisor Dr. (Seth) Kelly has made a great impact on me because he helped me fine tune what ideas and procedures to use within my I.S., which really helped me figure out what topic I wanted to explore.

Q: What other people or resources impacted your Wooster experience in a positive way and how did these people/resources set you up to be successful at Wooster?
A: Coach (Rob) Harrington really helped me. It's been hard to compete at the collegiate level, but he always encouraged me and helped me with practices and getting to and through our winter training trips, which is the hardest training we go through. I also think the people in APEX (Wooster's center for Advising, Planning, and Experiential Learning), especially the pre-health advisors, have always helped me through the hard process of trying to go to medical school. These people have set me up to be successful because they believe in me and have helped me figure out how to get to where I want to be in life.

Q: Tell us a bit about your Independent Study project?
A: My Independent Study project is based on the nervous system, but I also wanted to look into the connection between this system and the immune system. To do this, I took mutant flies with reduced immune genes and tested the axon degeneration within their wings. Doing so allows me to figure out how likely or unlikely these two systems are connected with one another.

Q: Tell us a bit about something cool you did as a student at The College of Wooster?
A: Something cool I did while at Wooster was go on the Wooster Summer in Tuscany trip. When I came back, I worked as a health coach the rest of the summer as an APEX fellow. I really enjoyed these experiences, and they were both great opportunities.

Q: Reflecting back on your time at Wooster, what advice would you give your first year (freshman) self?
A: I would tell myself to branch out and join different school groups and friend groups. It's easy to fall within the same crowd, but it's rewarding to develop friendships with new people. I would also tell myself to keep challenging yourself. Some classes or experiences may be hard, but it's exciting to see yourself make it through a class or program that you originally thought would be too hard to get through.

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Interested in becoming a Fighting Scot?
Prospective student-athletes can click here to request more information from a coach and you can view the virtual campus tour here.