Trying to Find Your Path

Starting from high school and probably even middle school, I knew that I was
interested in studying within the sciences. I think my first major event that pushed me
towards wanting to major in biology was my AP Biology class in high school. My teacher,
Mr. Rogers is still today my favorite educator that Ive ever had. He taught us and presented
the material in a way that made the information both intriguing and accessible. He would
bring in current research or news articles that were relevant to what we were learning at
the time and help us see the connections between stuff as basic as the four bases in DNA
and relating it to CRISPR/Cas9. For population genetics, he created a mating activity for all
the student in the class that was extremely comical for all of us, but also very educational at
the same time. Even in this class, the influence of Mendel, Darwin, Watson and Crick, and
other great contributors to the study of biology were very substantial. The unit on genetics
began with a background on Gregor Mendel, who is the father of modern genetics. His
influence is evident in that the laws governing genetics are named Mendelian inheritance
after himself. His experiments with pea plants gave us these laws which are now the
foundation to most of what we know about genetics and inheritance (1). Because of
Mendels discoveries, there are now so many different paths to take when looking at the
field of genetics. We also now can predict the phenotypes of offspring from the parents and
perform calculations giving us the probability of each possible phenotypic outcome. This
even carries over to pet culture. Dog breeders use the science of genetics to create
purebred dogs and exotic mixed dogs. There is a type of cat called a Toyger that using
Mendels laws of inheritance, has been bred so it has the appearance of a small tiger.
Another cat, the Bengal cat has been bred by mixing phenotypes of wild leopard cats with
domestic ones (2). All of these special animals cost a couple thousand dollars each, making
it an extremely lucrative business to go into, all thanks to genetics. Looking at animal
breeding and geneticists and every biology course ever, one can see the lasting influence of
Mendels significant discovery all around.
Moving forward to Northeastern, I had a course freshman year that is probably the
worst class I have ever taken. The course was Inquiries in Cell and Molecular Biology and
I had no idea what to expect going in, but the course pushed me to my limits and beyond
many times during the semester. This course was the main reason I decided not to pursue
something in cell or molecular biology. We looked at CRISPR/CAS9 and gene therapy and
different techniques used when examining genes, and while the field is ever growing and
continually being shaped by many brilliant scientists from all over, I realized that the cell
and molecular area of biology was not for me.
I then took my first psychology class which gave birth to my current interests in
psychology and how it interacts with neurobiology. Every psychology course ever will
always mention the curious case of patient HM. The patient known as H.M. is the reason for
so much of our knowledge of the workings of memory, and thus, hes one of the most
examined cases in history (4). Dr. William Scoville was the neurosurgeon that actually
removed H.Ms hippocampus which caused H.M. to be amnesic. In this case, it was by
accident that a discovery was made on the hippocampus and its crucial role in memory
formation (4). This happy mistake cause a crucial change in our knowledge of the brain and
its effects on memory, and Dr. Scovilles infamous procedure has changed the way we
approach the brain. I think this case is not unlike most discoveries in science, many times
the discoveries you make are not the ones you were looking for in the beginning. Sure,
many discoveries are found by years of research and testing for that exact result, but a
quite a few breakthroughs are chanced upon. This course piqued my interest in psychology
and I wanted to learn more about the connections between psychology and the biological
components that factor in, so I took a Biological Psychology course. This course taught me
all about the working of neurons and signaling in the body and further intensified my
interest in neuroscience.
In addition to these courses, I also worked and did a directed study in a psychology
lab on campus called the Interdisciplinary Affective Science Lab (IASL) for about two years
now. The studies and concepts we examine have done a lot to broaden my views on the
different applications of science and all the different connections that can be made to other
aspects of life. We focus a lot on Buddhism philosophy and the art of mindfulness and
meditation to examine how this can affect a persons behavior and level of altruism. The
Dalai Lama in recent years has increasingly become more involved with science and
religion collaborations. There are now many conferences in the East that bridge science
and religion together, and the hope is that one day the process will carry over to the
Western religions. The focus on mindfulness and meditation is becoming increasingly
popular with regards to stress levels, levels of altruism in a person, and interpersonal
flourishing. This concept Ive noticed has come up in quite a few of my biology based
courses as well which I find very exciting. Psychology and the study of human behavior and
relationships has always been somewhat of a fascination to be because unlike hard science,
people are very diverse and you cannot apply one theory about behavior to the entire
population because there will always be exceptions.
Humans are such interesting creatures and despite the advances of modern
technology, there is still so much that we dont know about ourselves. Take the process of
sleep for example. I recently took a class on circadian rhythms and sleep which went hand
in hand with my co-op at a sleep lab. The study of sleep and circadian rhythms has
increasingly become more popular because so much of it is unknown. Nathaniel Kleitman is
most commonly recognized as the father of sleep studies and his research has paved the
way and shaped how we approach sleep (5). People used to think sleep was when our
bodies shut down to rest, but we now know that our brains become very active and busy
while we sleep. Memories are formed, muscles are repaired, and many other body
processes occur during the night. We also dream during sleep, but like much of the sleep
world, the reason is still unknown. In my class, we talked about the effects of sleep
deprivation and at my co-op I got to see it first-hand because I was the one sleep depriving
the subjects. This co-op along with my time in the IASLab made me realized that I wanted
to work with people in some form or fashion for my job. I enjoy working with human
subjects rather than looking at cell cultures under a microscope or working with animals
because I like meeting all the interesting people that come in to participate in studies and
hear their stories.
I think my education, starting from senior year in high school all the way up to now
has pushed me towards and pulled me away from many different possibilities to peruse. It
has opened me up to a wider scope of options than I ever imagined. For example, before my
co-op and class on circadian rhythms, I really had no idea that sleep research was that big
of a deal. I also never thought about human parasitology, another course I took, as a viable
option in the biology world. My view was very narrow in that I thought there were only
really two options available as a biology student: medical school or academia. I found that
many courses I took helped me guide my way towards my current interests and pursuits.
I think my freshman self was a very different person, with very different goals in
mind from the person I am now. Starting out, I wanted to study medicine and was
convinced that was one of the only options I had. Now, a couple years later Im starting to
lean more towards neuroscience or epidemiology. I think the combination of the classes I
liked and disliked both help me towards figuring out where I want to go, because starting
out, I was in limbo and very unsure about the direction I wanted to go. I still am not 100%
certain about what I want to do, but then again, a lot of people at our age are unsure. I think
its a day by day process and its important to be open to new things and give everything a
chance. Sometimes things can come to you in the most random and unexpected ways so I
think its important to keep your mind open.

Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my roommates for letting me bounce ideas off them and talk about my
experiences in classes at Northeastern with them. I would also like to thank my professors
in all my classes for helping me get to where I am today and helping me get closer to finding
the path I want to take.
 Sources
1 Miko, I. Gregor Mendel and the principles of inheritance. Nature Education
1(1):134. 2008.
2 Gobel, R. Meet the most expensive cat breeds in America. MoneyWatch. 2017.
3 Hamilton, J. Why Brain Scientists Are Still Obsessed With The Curious Case Of
Phineas Gage. NPR. 2017.
4 Ogden, J. HM, the Man with No Memory. Psychology Today. 2012.
5 Kleitman, father of sleep research. The University of Chicago Chronicle. vol 19, no.
1, 1999.