Mikayla Voglewede is a doctoral student in the Graduate Program in Neuroscience here at Rutgers. She earned her B.S. in Neurobiology and Physiology from Purdue University and grew up in Indiana. During undergraduate and graduate school she studied—and continues to study—how neurons in the brain change to learn new things and encode memories and how this is different in neurodevelopmental disorders, such as Autism Spectrum Disorders and schizophrenia. Outside of conducting research, she is passionate about mentoring, volunteering, and STEM outreach. She greatly appreciates the wonderful mentors and opportunities she had in both undergraduate and graduate school who encouraged and enabled her to accomplish her goals. She welcomes the opportunity to mentor and give back to other students and scientists. After graduating she plans to continue her studies by pursuing a postdoctoral research position with the ultimate goal of becoming an academic researcher who teaches and runs a research lab at a university.