A Summer In Motion

This summer, I will be doing my research in the Animal Locomotion Lab with Dr Daniel Schmitt. My focus will be on human gait patterns in both healthy and diseased populations, specifically, those who have had portions of their pelvis removed. Gait analysis within healthy populations will also be compared to the gait of gorillas.

For the past few years, I have become increasingly more aware that being a traditional doctor was not my path. Since that realization, I have been telling people that I planned to go into research. Have I ever done research? Did I know anyone personally who was doing research in my preferred field (human movement and performance)? The answer to both of those questions is a resounding “NO”. All of this changed once Dr. Grunwald put me into contact with the ALL where I have been surrounded by people studying the human body in ways I never imagined.

So far this week, I have been exposed to cutting-edge motion capture techniques, dead animals in the basement freezer of the biology building, and a kind community of scientists. While the dead animals in the freezer were not apart of my original expectations, especially when the expedition ended with me getting pricked by a porcupine, I have learned to expect the unexpected with Dr. Schmitt. Most all of the techniques that I have been working with have been  brand new to me, which has been both scary and exciting. Even though all of the coding, motion models, force plates, and animals in the freezer are all new to me, I am excited to see how many of these techniques become second nature by the end of the program.

Through this experience studying motion in the lab, I expect to keep moving forward and advancing in my knowledge of the field, continue to embrace the unknown, learn to  not be afraid to step out of my comfort zone, and to learn to find joy in the both the mundane and extraordinary.