Kali Park

BIOL 4500

Dr. Karpel

December 6, 2016

How science and SUU has positively benefited me

            When I first came to SUU, I did not understand anything about the life sciences but, like most 18 year olds, I thought I knew everything. I entered college with the mentality that I wouldn’t need to change my study habits and gaining new skills didn’t even cross my mind. When it came it study habits, I tried to tackle college the same way that I had high school. I soon found out that college did not work the same way as high school. I could no longer do my homework last minute; just going over my notes before a test wasn’t enough to pass the exam and definitely not enough to pass a class. Like many entering biology students, I was planning on going to medical school because, in my opinion, that was the only thing you could really do with a life science degree. SUU introduced me to a whole new world of the life sciences that allowed me to explore, gain new skills, and study what really interested me.

When I started school, I began to learn that I needed to change my previous learning habits and gain new skills in order to succeed. Coming to SUU gave me the motivation that I needed in order to change my study habits and become a more responsible person. I learned how to manage and focus my time in order to create the necessary habits that were required to succeed in my classes and in my personal life. Not only did SUU help me in create better habits, it also helped me gain new skills. One of the skills that this university helped me acquire was critical thinking skills. I was able to get hands on experience in many of my classes that allowed me to apply things that I learned in class, analyze them, and evaluate them with hands on experiences. I consider these experiences to be the most valuable because they introduced me to the real world of science. I began learning that there were so many things you could study in the life sciences. Interestingly enough, I found that the medical side of science didn’t interest me as much as I thought it would; instead I fell in love with plants. Prior to coming to SUU I had hated plants and I never thought I would enjoy learning about them as much as I did. With the help of many SUU professors, I learned that there is a whole different world of plant and animal interactions that I had previously never thought about. These new experiences were the reason that I continued to pursue a degree in the life sciences.

As I continued to study Biology, I began to learn that scientists view the world in a different way than I had been exposed to earlier in my life. I learned that you couldn’t take everything at face value because things are more complicated than they may appear. This fact continued to surprise me as I advanced in my studies; there was always something new to learn and something new to discover. This realization led to one of the most important things that I have ever learned, the learning will never and should never stop. As I read and discussed previous and current discoveries, I soon found out that scientists tend to question everything in an attempt to fully understand the topic at hand. Sometimes evidence was found that supported various discoveries, and sometimes evidence was found that disputed these same discoveries. I would have previously believed that this rendered a certain discovery unhelpful or pointless, but I now understand that is not the case. Scientists view the world in a way that is open to debate and progress. Sometimes they may not agree with the findings of a certain discovery, which actually is extremely beneficial. These disagreements motivate other scientists to perform their own experiments, which eventually lead to more discoveries, which help us gain an understanding of the world we live in. Viewing the world the way a scientists does has taught me one of the most important things that I will always use in life. Thanks to SUU, I will always be a life-long learner.

After I graduate, I plan to go a different route with my education than would probably be expected from a biology major. I am planning to attend law school, and though it might not seem like it, science will most likely play a major role in my future career. There are some areas of law that require one to have a science degree, such as patent law. I am planning on studying this area of law, meaning that my science degree has opened a door that no other degree could have done. A major part of patent law requires reviewing discoveries made in the science fields; my degree will help me excel in this career field. Not only will science play a major part in my future career, it will also play a major part in fulfilling items on my bucket list. I have always wanted to have my own greenhouse and grow my own vegetables. Science will play a large part in this aspect of my future because it will help me understand the plants I will be working with. I will be able to use scientific knowledge to identify the diseases or insects that could harm the plants and eventually I will be able to create a successful greenhouse. After I finish my time here at SUU, my degree will continue to be a benefit to me. Combining science, all the things it has taught me, and the skills I have acquired will help me create a better future for myself.