Summer ETHOS Orientation

The 2025 summer ETHOS program kicked off in June on the Loyola University Chicago campus. To prepare for their summer of research in the lab, our students from Senn High School and Sullivan High School attended a two-day orientation. 

The orientation sessions consisted of a few different activities, acclimating the students to campus and allowing them to get to know their peers and mentors.

After eating breakfast and staff introductions, the ETHOS students embarked on a tour of the university, followed by a cross-campus scavenger hunt. Pairs of lab partners worked together to take photos next to specific landmarks around Loyola, racing to be the first group to complete the game.

Next, a pre-survey was administered to measure student knowledge before beginning the summer program. Measuring different aspects of their neuroscientific understanding throughout the program allows members of the Loyola ETHOS team to identify learning gaps and improve future iterations of the program.

After an information session by program runners Elizabeth Wakefield, Sierra Webber and Bill Rochlin, the students played a game of KaHoot where they had to guess if a statement about the brain was a fact or a myth. Winners Riky Herrera and Madeleine Gomez-Martinez proved themselves to be the brainiacs of the group. Icebreaker activities concluded the first day of orientation. 

During the second day of orientation, students met the faculty mentors they will be working with during their summer research, learning about their respective research interests and the responsibilities they would have. 

Now that the second cohort of  ETHOS students has participated in the orientation, they are ready to take the first steps in what could be a career devoted to neuroscience.

 

View more photos from ETHOS orientation here.