Aysayeh Murray is a Pre-Med track Biology major. He is an avid gamer, and owns seven video game consoles. He enjoys writing, reading and most importantly, napping. Choosing to engage in these hobbies is all dependent on the certain mood he feels during the day. I chose to interview Aysayeh because I believe he is an incredible representation of the Mercyhurst University. Also, I was curious to see if he was willing to offer helpful critique of our university. Nevertheless, he offered helpful insight to the Biology department, and his association with important clubs that are beneficial for the student body.

MM: “What made you want to become a Biology major?”

AM: “Oooooh, that’s a good question. To become a bio major, nothing, besides the pre-med track. The pre-med track is another story. When I was eleven, my uncle passed away form testicular cancer and from that day forward I decided that my entire life would be devoted to making sure that that doesn’t happen to other people. I was going to go into oncology, but that was too much for me. That would be the catalyst for the situation. I am planning on going into Epileptology, which is the study for epiliepsy; It would focus on children, but at times, adults and older people. As of now, nothing specifically made me become a bio major, other than the fact that it is the easiest way to complete the pre-med track on time.”

MM: ”What is your perspective on the Biology program at Mercyhurst. Do you believe there are room for improvements?”

AM: ”The bio department here is extremely nice. All our professors are very caring people and will go out of their way to make sure you are assisted. Even while pregnant/birthing a child, they are very attentive, cue Miss. Bernestein. They are all generally very nice people. They know each other very well and are well versed in the fields they teach. It’s nice to have the help we get and understand our professor’s personal lives. Not too much, but enough to form a personal connection with them.

Now, are there room for improvements? I would say the way the major is being brought upon to students, and the way the students treat the major. The major is not the problem, it’s the fact that the people in the major are competitive. As such, I feel that we lose the sense of community that, for example, the anthropology/archeology department has. We are always at odds because we are always trying to get a one up on the other, and by “we” I mean them, not me. Everybody in the bio department is usually trying to get the one up on whoever is coming in next. “Oh I need this internship, you shouldn’t get this internship. I’m getting this internship, I’m doing this, you can’t do this cause I’m gonna do it better”. There is a level of healthy competition that is good to have, but then there is a level that (bio students) have that ends up being an unhealthy level of competition. If there had to be room for improvements, I think everyone needs to calm down and realize that we’re going into the same areas”.

MM: ”Are you apart of any clubs on campus?”

AM: ”Yes I am. I’m apart of seven. With my main two clubs, I am vice president of Table Top Game club. I am the vice president of video game club, and I am an active member of Black Students for Unity, also known as BSU. Now, I would like to focus, specifically on Table Top and BSU. Table Top was started by myself, and three junior students, Aaron Ellis, Leah Weingarter, and Kurt Haas. We decided that since there is a video game club on campus, a lot of people have been coming up and asking us about the fact that, “We have video game club but, I want to play chess, or Candyland, or D&D (Dungeons and Dragons). We don’t have an area on campus that we can do that. So, we decided that we would take it upon ourselves to do that. Table Top meets Mondays and Tuesdays this semester, alternating from 7 to 10 p.m. in Hurt 118. Regardless, it’s just a nice club where everybody gets together and play different games, or any board games people come in with board games of their own. We de-stress before the week. We allow this time to be ourselves or do what we want to do.

BSU, and I understand that the name may cause some confusion. Black Students for Unity is not an exclusively black club, you do not have to be black to join Black Students for Unity. We call it that because of the fact that we are trying to promote diversity on campus and by having a minority in the name of our club, we are attempting to do so. Now, as I said, you can be whatever color, or ethnicity you are and come to a BSU meeting. We are trying to promote unity on campus through understanding oppression of different races. Now while black may seem like a loose group, it becomes a catch-all term for different ethnicities, also, it rolls off the tongue much better. Whatever racist incident occurs on campus, we are always the first ones on the scene. We will always be the first to talk about it, and meet with the administration to find out what the hell is going on. It is our duty to attempt to keep as much diversity on campus as we can and to do that, we need to fighting for the diversity we already have and fight for more diversity. If you are interested in joining, our president is Deja Santiago, she is an RA in the sophomore area. We could always use more members.”

Aysayeh’s Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/aysayeh.murray

Aysayeh's email - amurray50@mercyhurst.edu