Spartan Impact Stories: Mikayla Sague

Spartan Impact Stories: Mikayla Sague

Houghton, Michigan

Graduation date: Dec 2023

Medical Laboratory Science major, Spanish minor

Honors College, SMiLeS Scholar, TRIO Mentor, Residence Assistant

President, Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics Student Association

Mikayla Sague, a senior pursuing a Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) degree, was selected to be honored at the Cowles House before the Michigan State University football game against Minnesota on Sept 24. She was nominated by Dr. Kathy Hoag who is a professor in the Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics Program.

Sague will be sharing her journey and experience at Michigan State University with a group of MSU staff and faculty, along with MSU president Samuel L. Stanley.

Q and A with Mikayla Sague:

Why did you decide to be a Medical Laboratory Science major?

So I started off just coming to MSU knowing that I wanted to do science and as soon as I started taking lab classes, I realized, I prefer hands-on learning. Once I got into the lab, I felt like I could just be creative, ask questions and investigate. So I really liked that aspect of the lab and that's when I heard about the medical science major, and I just was like, ‘Yep, I want to be in the lab and I want to pursue working in a clinical lab (blood bank) or doing research’.

What have you enjoyed about being part of the Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics Program?

I really enjoy how close the student groups can be in the MLS major. We have our little cohort. We take most of our classes together and I get to know everyone really well. And the professors are super passionate about teaching. So I think that's really unique about our program.

What does being a SMiLeS mean to you?

It's a smaller group. So you get to meet other students from very similar backgrounds as you. I know I’ve met a lot of people from the (Upper Peninsula in Michigan) through that program. So that's been really cool. I think the biggest thing is just the ability to ask questions and have a little bit of extra support going through college because I'm first generation. I find it really supportive.

What does it mean to be selected to share your story at the Cowles House pregame reception?

I think it's really awesome. It's great for promoting MLS, which I am so all about. I really enjoy it, truly, but also when I started off, I think I was pretty shy and I was not as outgoing. I really took advantage of opportunities here and now, they see me as someone who would be great to speak about our major. It shows my growth over time for sure. So it's kind of a big celebration of that as well.

What research are you involved with on campus?

So here (BLD) I gained a lot of micropipette skills, microscope skills, diagnostic skills and now I'm going to be working with frog stomachs (with Dr. Justin Lawrence). I'll open them up, flush them out and identify what they ate. I’ll log all that data and photograph all that data. I'm also working with the toxicology researcher, so a collaboration across fields, and comparing the diet of frogs to the toxins they produce and see if there's a connection. (For example) if a frog eats something, can they produce this toxin? Because the toxins on frogs can have a lot of medical purposes.

What do you like to do outside of class?

I really enjoy teaching, actually. So I do that in the lab, I'm a swimmer, so I swim and I'm really into sports. So definitely MSU Hockey, football, basketball.