Throughout the spring semester, we are honoring our senior student-athletes with a "Senior Salute" series. Today's featured senior is Sydney Fitzcharles, a neuroscience major from Twinsburg, Ohio. Fitzcharles is a member of the volleyball team. 

Q: Why did you choose to attend The College of Wooster?  
A: I chose to attend The College of Wooster because it provided me with the opportunity to continue playing the sport I love and pursue my academic interests. I also liked the various types of research being conducted on campus and the personal relationships students were able to build with the faculty and staff due to the small class sizes. 

Q: What does being a Fighting Scot student-athlete mean to you? 
A: Being a student-athlete means placing a heavy emphasis on both athletics and academics. Wooster's student-athletes have a long history of excelling in both the classroom and in their sports. We, as current student-athletes, strive to continue this legacy during our time at the College. 

Q: What are some of your favorite memories as a student at The College of Wooster? 
A: My favorite athletic memory was beating Denison University in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament in 2021. That match was truly one of the peak moments in my athletic career. Outside of that, I will cherish all the great memories I have made with my team during our away trips. From bus rides to flying to different states to compete, my most fond memories of being a student-athlete have come from the experiences I've had travelling with teammates.  

Q: What is the best part about being a student-athlete at The College of Wooster? 
A: The best part about being a student-athlete is the support network I have found through Wooster. Even since being a first-year, I have felt the incessant support from my teammates and always feel like I have people to reach out to if I am in need. My roommates, and fellow seniors, will be my best friends for a lifetime. They have always been my go-to people for everything these past four years. 

Q: What else were you involved with on campus besides your sport? 
A: Outside of volleyball, I am a member of the Wooster Community Hospital Health Coach Program, which allows us to visit and care for an elderly patient of the local community in collaboration with the hospital staff. Within Wooster volleyball, I am a member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. Through this committee, a few teammates and I work to build a welcoming team environment that everyone can flourish in as they are.  

Q: Which College of Wooster faculty or staff member has made the greatest impact on you and why? 
A: The faculty member who has made the greatest impact on me is Dr. Seth Kellybecause he has made me genuinely love learning and pours everything into his students' success. He teaches complex topics and ideas in ways that are comprehensible to his students and wholeheartedly strives for every student to understand class content at a high level. From giving engaging lectures to informative in-class activities, Dr. Kelly truly excels as an educator and his hard work and dedication does not go unnoticed.  

Q: What other people or resources impacted your Wooster experience in a positive way and how did these people and resources set you up to be successful at Wooster? 
A: Within the faculty and staff, Dr. Grit Herzmannhas positively impacted my experience at Wooster. She has been a continually supportive presence in my academic and personal life as a student in her classroom, as her TA, and with having her as an academic advisor. Additionally, Dr. Alfredo Zúñigahas guided me through navigating the craziness of senior year, and, as my Independent Studyadvisor, has been integral to my successes in I.S.  

Q: Tell us a bit about your Independent Study project? 
A: I am investigating a reward processing pathway involving the lateral habenula in a mouse model. Specifically, I am assessing the effect of a natural reward – chocolate – on this pathway beginning with the lateral habenula and extending to the ventral tegmental area, which then can regulate the GABA-A receptors within the lateral habenula. Existing research supports the presence and activity of a braking mechanism in the glutamatergic neurons that connect the lateral habenula to the ventral tegmental area when presented with unexpected rewards or an aversive stimulus. I am evaluating this neural circuit in mice and using immunohistochemistry to further analyze brain activity at the molecular level. This research can then be applied to the study of conditions involving dysfunctional reward processing, such as depressive disorders, ADHD, substance abuse, and addiction.  

Q: Tell us a bit about something cool you did as a student at The College of Wooster? 
A: We entered the 2021 NCAC Tournament as the fifth seed and beat Oberlin College, Hiram College, and then top-seeded Denison in the semifinals. During the spring semester in 2022, our team travelled to Arizona, where we learned about the Native Americans of the area, saw the sunrise over the Grand Canyon as a team, and had the opportunity to compete on our last day. This past fall, we competed at Emory University. During our trip to Georgia, we visited the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park and his birth home. We also visited Centennial Olympic Park. Academically, I have learned countless fascinating research techniques, but my favorite has been cryosectioning, which is slicing brain tissue at extremely cold temperatures, and then subsequently immunohistochemistry in cellular neuroscience lab.  

Q: Reflecting back on your time at Wooster, what advice would you give your first-year self? 
A: Advice I would give myself would be to take seemingly daunting tasks, goals, and assignments in small steps. Rather than trying to complete one huge task in a day, I would tell my first-year self to do a portion of each assignment every day and get everything done gradually. Not academically related, I would tell myself to call my friends and family from home more. Nothing is more destressing and restorative than a conversation with a loved one.  

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