Saturday, September 15, 2012

Students who hate their major

I always see students who hate their major, and it makes me sad. Why commit 4 years (or more!) to something that you despise? I feel that those kids who are biology majors just to be called "Doctor" somewhere down the road should either reconsider or at least change their attitude. I'm not saying you have to love everything about biology, but as a future doctor, don't you think you should appreciate the foundations of the field you hope to become a professional in? (I know of one kid whom I believe is doing it only because his parents are making him!) Personally I love biology. I don't love everything about it-- I find the molecular stuff to be a major headache sometimes and genetics is also difficult. But I always appreciate it, even if I don't understand. Quorum sensing? Sounds complicated, but how cool is that?
I've seen pre-med students who hate anatomy, have no interest in microbiology, etc. These subjects at least seem to have a lot of relevance to their field!
I tend to have blinders on sometimes as far as my major goes-- I hate my general requirements, suck at math, I'm bleh about chemistry, but bio I just adore. So perhaps that reveals a flaw in my own character. But hey, I would have taken art classes for fun but they are expensive, take up time, and I'd have to start at the beginning with 3 hour long beginners classes! I've resigned myself to letting art be a hobby.
My favorite bio-related subjects are ecology and evolution, which we touched on in my general bio 2 class. I adore learning about the variety of life, the similarities and the development over life's history. However, since that class I've found I enjoyed microbiology and I'm currently enjoying cell physiology!
Here are some neat critters I enjoyed learning about back in the days of gen bio. :) 


    1 comment:

    1. I think you need to have an interest in what you learn about, not necessarily love it. But you do need to love what you will end up doing for years and years to get to your desired career. I also get frustrated with people who hate their major. Seriously, why bother? I don't love the people skills that I will have to learn, or the business. But I ADORE learning theory, ethology, anatomy, genetics, evolution, philosophy, and even human psychology. All vital to my success as an ethologist. I do think a lot of it is attitude too, if you hate what you're learning about, and you treat school like a chore and not an opportunity to grow, than you're not going to get much out of it no matter how much you love a subject, and even less if you hate a subject. People need to follow their hearts more in life.

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