I can't tell you how many times people have asked me, "Why do you take all those sciences classes? It sounds terrible." Truthfully, half of the time, I completely agree, but then I begin to think about what else I would be studying. Business? Nah, too boring for me. Art? Definitely not creative enough. Studying anything else except science and health would be a waste of time for me. But I will agree with one thing, the courses and amount of dedication a science major takes up is overwhelming. Anyone majoring in Engineering, Health Sciences, Biology, or any other related fields can surely attest to that. As rewarding as the outcomes are in the end, the path to get there is one hell of a ride.

There is no such thing as syllabus week. For most other classes, you get to look forward to an easy week of going over the syllabus and not even getting into real work until probably the third time meeting. For classes like biology or chemistry, you have about 15 minutes of the expectations before you delve right into Kreb's cycle of aerobic respiration. I can account to this from my first experience with biology my freshman year. I was so excited at the idea of doing absolutely nothing the first week of school, until I sat in my first 50-minute lecture. I was just waiting to go over the four-page syllabus until my professor introduced herself and confidently told us to read it over for next class, and my stress for biology started right then and there.

The only way you're getting an "A" is to ace the only four exams given in the semester. Most science classes do three midterms and a cumulative final, which are what your grade for the class is composed of. Literally just four grades. Messing up just once can really throw you off and make it a task to overcome. Oh, and there's no last-minute studying for these exams. They can range from being composed of chapters four to eight to chapters one to 23. Trust me, it's happened to me and it's not fun. Studying at least five to seven days in advance is the best route to go, with lots and lots of coffee involved.

But that's enough trash talking the science majors, because there are plenty of benefits to it. I went into my intro classes seriously contemplating if I could handle the intense course work that Health Sciences would bring me. And ironically, studying health can be unhealthy in itself with all the stress and demands expected to be met; however, I wouldn't trade it over anything. Getting more into depth on topics actually related to future careers finally gets you past the intimidating appearance of science classes in the present. I went from learning about every parasite in the world like Naegleria fowleri to studying the Basidiomycota mushrooms purchased in grocery stores. Now don't get me wrong, I love learning about fungi as much as the next person, but having to memorize so many foreign names for things I could care less about made being a science major not the most enjoyable thing.

I think most would agree with me that the older you become, the more enjoyable the learning process is. Sure, you're ready to rip out all of your eyelashes from the stress, but you finally advance to the classes that will be of practical use. Maybe for engineers, you're finally out of all of the intensely insane maths and are working at an internship with hands-on skills. Or you're studying to be a nurse and you finally start clinicals in a hospital setting that helps you to remember why you wanted to pursue this crazy field so badly in the beginning. Whatever the reason may be, you're a science major for one reason: because you love what you're doing. There's no other reason we would stress ourselves out to learn every element on the periodic table just to end up hating our jobs in five years.

Being in the science field whether it is health related, research, microbiology, engineering, or any other kind, is truly a love people have. It is a desire to study the importance of life and health and how to make everyday accommodations more efficient for people. If we science majors truly didn't love our area of study, we wouldn't be spending four to eight intense years of our lives eating, sleeping, and breathing it.