Students often look back fondly on memories of field trips taken, usually at the elementary school level. However, this past week, students in Lynn Zimmerman’s Human Biology class had the opportunity to travel to Fort Hays State University to view cadavers.

“I’ve been taking students to view cadavers for 20 years,” Zimmerman said. “Probably 95 percent of my students sign up to attend a human cadaver demonstration.”

Zimmerman gave her reasons for scheduling the demonstration when she did.

“I prefer to have my students attend late in the semester because I like for them to have covered many of the structures discussed during the presentation,” Zimmerman said. “It is a rewarding experience when students are able to answer many of the questions directed to them by Dr. Bennett. To help prepare students for this visit, I also have them working on the dissection of the fetal pig in class before they make the visit.”

Zimmerman said that students take the human biology class for a number of different reasons, including their career choice, their learning style, or their credit requirements for graduation.

“Regardless of the reason for enrolling in this science course, I find that the cadaver demonstration is invaluable in helping most students more clearly define the future goals they have set for themselves,” Zimmerman said. “Some students come away more excited about the healthcare field, while others decide that this coursework is not what they want to pursue.”

Senior Breanne Kruse shared her experience.

“I thought the cadaver lab was super-awesome,” Kruse said. “My favorite part was just seeing the inner workings of the human body. I just kept thinking about what each part does and how crazy it is that cells work together to do all the crazy things necessary to keep us living. It’s so complex. Everything is very aesthetic, too, when you think about it.”

Kruse said her interest stemmed from her career choice.

“I want to go into veterinary medicine,” Kruse said. “I am extremely interested in biology and how it all works to make a living mammal.”

Senior Lacey Pfannenstiel had a different perspective.

“I liked it, but I don’t think I could take the class,” Pfannenstiel said. “My favorite part was seeing the parts of the body we learned in class.”

Pfannenstiel said she wanted to go to see the parts of the body in real life.

“I was glad we have the opportunity to experience seeing the cadavers because not everyone has the chance to,” Pfannenstiel said.

Senior Maxine Moore is going into the medical field.

“I thought it would be a cool experience,” Moore said. “It was amazing. I liked being able to be there and see the cadavers and I liked learning about them.”

Senior Jill Pokorny said she attended because she wanted to experience first-hand what she had been taught in class.

Pokorny thought the lab was an interesting field trip.

“I thoroughly enjoyed going to the lab and seeing what exactly we had learned on a hands-on basis,” Pokorny said. “My favorite part was having the ability to hold the organs and see them up close.”