In this Quick Hits, Visiting Lecturer in Biology Angelica Pytel talks Corgis, Scrabble, and her love of nature.

What is your favorite animal? 

Domestic animal — dogs, especially corgis. We have bred dogs to be our companions, and they live up to the standard we have set. Wild animal — squirrels, because they are silly and everywhere.

What made you interested in studying Biology?

As a young girl, my father fostered a love for nature in me. It is all I have ever wanted to do except for a few years I wanted to be a librarian. But my mom pointed out that I was too loud. I tease her all the time about it, but she was correct.

If you could meet any famous person, living or dead, who would you meet? 

Any of my great-great-great-great-great grandmothers. I think five greats would guarantee a grandmother from another continent. I would want to know what life was like for her. Her struggles. Her joys. Any advice on living a good life.

What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?

What I do most is read. What I love doing is playing Scrabble with my husband, Jason.

What is a guilty pleasure you have?

Playing a certain farming game on my phone.

What is your favorite childhood memory?

I would share a memory not of a particular event but a more general happening. Every winter when it was cold enough for long enough, my dad would plow an ice skating ring around the pond. I would stare out the window in winter waiting to go ice skating.

If you could have any superpower, which would you choose?

Powers can quickly become a curse. So this is tricky. It is like making a wish with a Djinn. Infinite memory with selective forgetting. 

Do you have a favorite philosopher? If so, who?

I enjoy reading Michael Ruse, living, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, not living. 

If you could take any class at Hillsdale, which class would you choose?

I have already sat in on several courses: Phenomenology and Continental Philosophy with Dr. Blum; Advanced Cell Biology with Dr. Steiner; Calculus II with Dr. Webster; Statistical Learning with Dr. Treloar. In addition I would love to find the time to sit in on any course with Dr. Fredricks. I need to work on building any relationship with poetry.

If you could travel anywhere, where would you travel?

Can I say every country in Asia? I would go to every country if I had unlimited time and funds. 

What’s something a Hillsdale student should know?

Your happiness matters. Be kind to others and yourself.