The minds of USC Aiken's biology program: Interviews with biology students
The Department of Biology and Geology at USC Aiken is home to more than 250 biology majors, and students within the program have a lot of admiration for it.
Madison Carelock, a senior majoring in Molecular Biology said, “I adore science and the infinite possibilities it provides. I was originally Pre-Med, now I am applying to top Ph.D. programs in five different states.
Carelock is a hopeful oncology surgeon. Her favorite classes as a molecular biology major included “Advanced Cell Biology and Immunology, both taught by Dr. William H. Jackson.”
She enjoyed the classes for their structures and “how the challenging course load has prepared me somewhat for graduate school. I also love how I have been able to apply everything I have learned from these classes to my undergraduate research work as an aspiring scientist.”
However, Carelock is “not very keen on large scale Biology topics such as what you learn in Biological Science 122. Unless it applies to biomedical sciences, I am not very interested due to my aspiring career goals.”
Dania Hailat, a junior majoring in biology, said “I want to be a doctor and I felt that being a biology major would help me most in medical school.”
She continued, “One of my favorite biology classes was Fundamentals of Microbiology with Dr. Mills solely because Dr. Mills was so excited and energetic teaching the class that it made students interested as well.”
Hailat also said one of her least favorite classes as a biology major was Bio 122 “because it was about plants and it was really tough.”
Gabrielle Nagorite, also majoring in Molecular Biology, shared her reasoning for choosing her major: “I wanted to become a biology major because I just love learning the mechanisms behind the biological systems and I also aspire to become a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon in the future.”
“Comparative Anatomy with Dr. April DeLaurier must be one of my favorite classes,” said Nagorite, “because learning that animals are so closely related to our vascular, blood, and systems is just so interesting to me. Genetics with Dr. Bill Jackson was also one of my favorites just because of how much I learned in that class. Also, everything he has taught me is starting to intermingle with the classes I am taking now.”
Nagorite has a similar grievance with a biology class, this one being “Bio 121 because the transition between college and high school biology took a great toll on my stress levels.”
