Nicole EngJunior Microbiology major & pre-med student The start of my Junior year feels different than the past two years. I can’t believe that I have only 3 semesters left in my undergraduate career. I am excited for this year because now that I am older and have more credits I am able to take more of the specialized biology and neuroscience classes that I am interested in and can use to explore a variety of directions my career my take. Last semester I took Immunology (BIOSC 1760) and it changed how I saw the human body and medicine. As part of my Neuroscience minor, I also took Synaptic Transmission (NROSCI 1017), which was a really interesting class that I loved taking. Now I am even more eager to dive into more of my major and minor classes that fit my interests. This semester, I am currently taking Microbiology (BIOSC 1850), Introduction to Microbiology Lab (BIOSC 1855), and Human Physiology (BIOSC 1250) as my science classes. To balance my schedule, I am also taking a race across cultures class and a children's books lit course.
My schedule each semester has mostly revolved around science courses but each semester I took other classes that piqued my interest. I took Political Philosophy (PHIL 0330) to explore my love for politics and find out more about the ideals behind political views and ideologies. I took a Western Art Music (MUSIC 0211) class which helped me find new beautiful music to appreciate and to listen to while I study. I took a Drugs and Behavior (NROSCI 0081) class freshman year that made me more interested in neuroscience and pushed me to pursue a neuroscience minor. When I needed a humanities class, I stumbled upon Magic, Witchcraft and the Supernatural Body (ANTH 0717), which sounded intriguing. That class dove into the magical qualities and things in everyday life and walked through different cultures and realities perceived in different societies. I am currently taking a race across the world class where we discuss race and the underlying hierarchies in its social construction. Another note-worthy non-science class is Childhoods’ Books (ENGLIT 0562) where we talk about what the child means and how children's media portrays society and is a teller of what we want our culture to show other people. At the beginning of my college career I thought I wanted to pursue research as a career and was thinking about getting an MD/PhD to continue doing lab research as a career. Once I arrived at Pitt I immediately started to search for a research position that would accept me. I found a great position studying lizard tail regeneration and was given my own project to work on. I continued to work with this research group for a year until my boss left Pitt (unexpected twist) and then I found a new position. In both of those early research positions I was doing research on projects that were interesting, but I was not actually passionate about either. Also being so young, I didn’t completely understand the science behind what I was doing. It was at this point that I realized that wet lab bench research wasn’t the only route for me: I loved research, but I also wanted to have more patient and people interaction. I decided to change my path and look into doing clinical research, which brings me to the present. I am currently doing patient research at the Women’s Hospital and checking MRI scans in a project looking at Alzheimer's Disease, 2 things that I am passionate about. From my journey through research I realized that I should not have taken the first opportunity that came about for me. I should have thought more about what I was interested in rather than getting started as fast as I could. The research I am doing now is more interesting to me and feels less like work and a job but just a learning activity that I enjoy doing. As I get into the routine of my third year, I realize that being a college student has now become normal life for me. At first adjusting to being so far from home (I am from northern Jersey) was daunting, but after getting in the routine of school work and research I felt much more at home. Picking Pitt as my school was the best decision I made: I love having the city close to be able to explore while at the same time having a more secluded college neighborhood that is centered around the students. During my first two years I found my friends and a good support system through a combination of clubs, classes, and extracurricular activities. Overall, sometimes I forget that college is a privilege and not a right. When I find myself struggling and questioning all my life decisions, I think back through what my 2 years here so far has given me. Everything that I have learned and experienced has shaped me into a more mature and more knowledgeable person. I feel fortunate to learn about what I love every day. If you ever feel confused or lost, try thinking about all the new experiences you have had and please come by and share some with me during my office hours!
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January 2022
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