Why being well rounded is not just for college apps
Written By: Gen Nguyen | Read full profile
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This is another one for my unpopular opinions thread. Please keep in mind these are my opinions alone, and you may not agree. That’s okay! At least you can say that you felt something today!
Joke of the blog: What do you call a lost wolf?
At around 1am one night, I had a debate with one of my friends who graduated with a bio degree as to why biology was a useless major. I wrote about it in my post here. Most biology majors who I meet have one goal: med school. And there’s nothing wrong with being a biology premed student. I just think there’s more to life than premed biology (it’s kinda ironic).
The main focus I tried to convey wasn’t just that a biology degree was useless, but more so these students (for the most part) are limited to just biology. They’re tied to one subject with no other passion or interest in life. It’s true that you need to know biology to be a doctor, but you also need to be human to interact with other humans.
How do you become a human? Well, to start, you need to be a living system with a brain that can perceive and convey thoughts and emotions. So, if you’re reading this then you’re almost there! Next is having genuine interests and passions. You can have an interest in biology and healthcare, but is that all? To be honest, you sound kinda boring.
Having more than one interest, being well-rounded, makes you an interesting person. Not only will it make you stand out on college apps, it lets you connect with a variety of people. You can make more friends, have something to talk about OR even better, you can network.
Networking is just a fancy term describing a way for you to create professional connections with individuals that hold a common interest. It’s great to do because it puts your name further out there, can open more doors for opportunities, or even find yourself a ping pong partner you can rally with. I’m not saying you can’t network as a biology pre-med student. But what makes you different from the rest of them? What’s your why?
I’m a computational chemistry major who love both chemistry and computers. And I have a whole spiel as to why I love both and why I majored in what I did. But I also like filming and editing and gaming. I’ve tried working out (multiple times). I love playing guitar, piano, ukulele, and viola. I enjoy cooking and baking. With all of my interests, doesn’t it make me seem more fun? We can converse as to why I love pineapple on pizza or maybe workout together.
But if you don’t believe me or find me that interesting then that’s fine. Take it from Ali Abdaal. Not only is he a doctor, he’s a YouTuber and podcaster who coded his own blog website. Pretty legit for someone who is in healthcare.
I’m not here to deter you from being a bio premed or to stress you out anymore. Just think about who you are, what you wanna do and be. Find the hobbies that’ll keep you sane when you’re studying.
Answer: A where-wolf
Disclaimer: It doesn’t apply to only biology, premed, or biology premed people. I just found myself surrounded by a bunch of them back in college. Honestly, you can be a business major and I’d still call you boring.
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