Kallin Raymond

Capstone: Biology of Disease

Dec. 9, 2016

                When I first started life as a fresh college student, I had no idea how my college experience would pan out. I remember taking several general classes that first semester; biology 1610 was one of them. I don’t remember exactly what I learned that semester, but I remember how much I enjoyed the things that I was learning and would try to convey that knowledge to others. I realized that I had to tone down my excitement about the things that I learned about animals and plants when friends stopped taking me on hikes. I would come home excited about the way that organisms were put together. It was because of that enjoyment that I decided to be a biology major.

After that first semester, I thought that there was little else that could be taught to me. That’s how narrowminded I was at the time. As I progressed on through my major, I was amazed at how little I actually knew. Even now I realize that the more I learn, the less I think I actually know. On the contrary, however, I have found that the more I learn, the more I enjoy the sciences. I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to come to college and find out about the world around me. It has been humbling to find out how amazing detailed and intricate the world is. I stand in awe at the vast variety of life found in all different parts of life. Life, to me, seems rather miraculous. The human body is a marvel.

One of the things that I have appreciated about learning about the sciences, is the way that I think. The internet contains a vast amount of knowledge, and it can be really easy to get deceived by the information found on there. Learning in the sciences has improved my critical thinking and has allowed me to truly consider what might be true, rather than trusting the first thing that I hear. This has also come about because of my progress in inquiring. I find joy in finding the truth. The internet is now much easier to navigate.

I realize that scientists have the greatest job in the world, to find answers to their questions. For science, there will never be an end to learning. It reminds of a quote, “There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.”[1] Before I became a college student, I might have disagreed with that statement. I was forced to come to school, but now I choose to come to school, I choose what I get to learn about, and that has made all the difference. Learning in the sciences has influenced my life in every way. It even was part of the reason why I chose the career path that I did. The world I will be joining when I graduate is medical school and eventually, pediatrics.

Science will be in every single aspect of being a doctor. Biochemistry has emphasized that quite heavily. Although I don’t particularly enjoy the amount of work that I am given, I do enjoy being able to have a different perspective on how things work. As I said before, the human body is amazing, but also sensitive. Humans get sick and diseased quite frequently because of how their body reacts to the world around them. Doctors have a special job in that they get to use science to help individuals heal. I know that I am not a doctor yet, but I feel that I have many tools in my hands that have already allowed me to connect with others as well as help them heal. As soon as friends find out that I want to be a doctor, they come to me with their all their ailments, thinking that I am an alternative to a real doctor. While at first I couldn’t help them, or fix their problems, now I have a good general idea of what they need to do to get feeling better, even if that includes recognizing that they need to see a real doctor. Science has helped me know these things. I know that science will continually help me find out how to best help people heal in the future. I will be able to understand how to treat their ailments because I will know even better how chemistry and the human body work together toward an end.

Nearly everything that we see around us can be explained with science, we just haven’t discovered all those answers yet. The more people like me desire to answer the questions they have, the more that will be revealed.

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[1] https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_learning.html