How Science Has Impacted My Life

Ever since I was young, I’ve had an interest in science. Once I was in high school, that interest focused on the human body. I excelled in all of my high school science classes, including general biology, human anatomy, human physiology and general chemistry. I am a good student, but I especially do well in classes that I enjoy. These classes weren’t all easy; some were concurrent enrollment classes. So, I definitely worked harder in them than other classes I was taking. While I did study a lot, probably more than most people in high school, I really enjoyed learning. During my senior year of high school, I participated in the Rural Health Scholars camp at SUU. During this camp, I got to learn about different areas within the health care field. I learned how to suture on a raw piece of chicken, I dissected a cow’s eyeball, I observed a cat getting spayed, and I learned how to give someone a cast. These experiences helped influence my decision to work towards a career in the health care field.

           Throughout my years at SUU, I have had many biology and chemistry classes. While I did learn a lot from the biology and chemistry class lectures, it was the labs that really helped me understand how scientists work. During my freshman year, I took general chemistry. I remember having to wear a lab coat and safety goggles to the lab. I felt dorky, but I also thought it was cool; I felt like a scientist. Every lab I have taken since then, I’ve learned more about how scientists work. I learned all the safety rules and how important it is to follow them in the lab. In general chemistry, I learned to record everything I did during the lab in a journal. I’ve learned to ask my own questions and formulate hypotheses which I tested through experiments that I designed. For my general biology lab I worked with Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches and tested the effects a growth hormone supplement had on their growth. I’m really glad I had a partner that didn’t mind touching the cockroaches, because it took me all semester to finally gain the courage to pick one of them up. For my ecology lab, I learned how to write a scientific paper on an experiment we had done.  In advanced genetics, I wrote my first literature review. This gave me a good idea of what scientists have to do before they can start primary research or get a grant, or when writing a research proposal, thesis or dissertation. Although I felt very accomplished after I had completed my literature review, I don’t think I would want that to be a part of my future career.  All of these experiences have helped me decide what parts of science I do and don’t enjoy so that I can choose a career path I want to follow. 

           Even though I am not going to medical school like I had originally planned, science will still be a big part of my life. After my fourth year of college, I finally made a decision and chose what career I wanted to have. After I graduate in May, I am going to get a degree in medical lab sciences. With that degree, I plan to work in a medical lab as a lab technologist. That’s about as far as I’ve gone planning my future career. But I have high hopes for it! I had always thought I would end up somewhere in the healthcare field being around a lot of people and working with patients. So, it’s a surprise to me and to the people who know me that I want to go work where there is a lot less people around, and no patients. But, the more I think about it, the more I am excited to not have to deal with sick people on a regular basis. Although it’s been tough bouncing around different career options for the last two years, I’m glad I finally landed on this one. The best part is, I get to continue to feel dorky and cool in my lab coat and safety goggles!