There Is More To Being A Science Major Than Becoming A Doctor

“Welcome to Physics 211! Okay now let’s do a poll so I can see what type of students we have in here.” Two minutes later, “So we have 47 percent of you who are pre-med, 17 percent of you want a Ph.D., 13 percent of you want to be a dentists, 16 percent of you are pre-PA, and 7 percent of you are other.”

I am other. I am a Biotechnology major who wishes to go into the wine and distilling industry, but most of my peers, friends, and classmates are pre-med or pre-something.

I came into college not really knowing what I wanted to do, but decided to declare myself pre-med. I was going into one of the toughest majors, and everyone else was pre-med, so how hard could it have really been? EXTREMELY hard. You have no idea what a pre-med student goes through till you try making all As in chemistry classes that are meant to weed you out of any pre-professional program. It was tough, and yes I failed to make all As, but I learned a lot from that first semester.

Three semesters of college went by before I realized that I wasn’t meant to be defined by a pre-something. But instead I was meant to decide my own destiny. And by destiny, I mean my own career path not defined by the majority, my parents, my peers, and most certainly my own self holding me back due to fear of failure and making a mistake.

As a Biotechnology major, I was automatically put into the “crazy” category, which also consists of engineers, chemistry majors, and probably anyone else who has to take upper level math and science courses. Crazy, doesn’t actually mean psycho, it means insane for purposefully pushing your brain to the upper limit of what it could handle, but nonetheless I love it.

So the real question is: Why put yourself through that to not become a doctor, pharmacist, physician assistant, dentist, or a veterinarian? Because I love it. What more is there to it? I learned recently that there is more to wine and spirits than we think. Which is why I want to go into the industry. There is a lot of chemistry, biochemistry, and biology involved. In order to understand those processes and work in the alcohol industry, I will also have to understand how tiny molecules, atoms, elements, and life works. And to do that I will have to go through tough classes.

To conclude, to anyone who is a science major, but doesn’t want to become a medical doctor, pharmacist, physician assistant, dentist, or a veterinarian, it is okay. You can do it, because if you put your heart into what you do, you will find that in the end the late nights of crying will be worth it so you can do something you truly love versus doing something you might end up truly loathing.

P.S. I am not bashing the pre-meds, I am giving hope to those of us who are not meant to be there.