By Alexandra Goldhamer, Peer Research Ambassador
For pre-medical and pre-professional students there is pressure to pursue a predefined path and check certain boxes to appear as the ideal candidate. Following these presumed requirements with a lack of passion will not facilitate an environment that is conducive to a college experience that allows for exploration of your interests and the sculpture of your unique, creative path.
While I became involved in research because I was truly interested, I did enter college with the notion that getting involved in undergraduate research was something that I was “supposed” to do to be a competitive applicant for post-graduate opportunities. I became involved in research in the Physiology and Neurobiology (PNB) Department where I study the neural underpinnings of obesity and anxiety. While I enjoy my research in molecular neurobiology, I felt as though I had additional passions that remained unexplored.
I added a Human Rights major to delve into my other interests. I applied for a Change Grant and was able to translate my passion for equal access to education into action by leading a college preparation program at Windham High School. Along these lines, during the Summer of 2022 I was an undergraduate Research Assistant for the Pandemic Journaling Project where I studied the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on women’s reproductive health. Through these experiences, I learned the importance of honoring your passions and not confining yourself to the opportunities that are characteristic of a traditional pre-medical or pre-professional track. Rather than putting yourself into a box to fulfill the criteria of the presumed “ideal applicant,” it’s pivotal to recognize, honor, and translate your diverse passions into action using the opportunities available through the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR).
Exploring your passions in fields that have little explicit intersection allows you to expand your mind as well as inform potential career paths. For example, research and activism within the field of human rights will inform any career in biology and medicine. Pursuing a diverse range of opportunities shapes your college experience, you as an individual, and your future career.
It’s important to take the time to ask yourself what you are passionate about and how you would like to delve into those topics, rather than feeling as though you must pursue opportunities solely within the field of your post-graduate education. Exploring different interests can potentially alter what you choose to study post-graduation and help you to develop your unique interests and individuality. Taking advantage of the opportunities that OUR has to offer has made me consider pursuing an MD/PhD program that would explore the intersection of neuroscience and human rights, and how their convergence informs public health and health outcomes. My experiences as a Human Rights major and conducting research within this field informs both my biology research and allows me to view my work in science through a unique, social justice-based lens.
My advice to those with a diverse range of interests is to pursue what inspires and fulfills you irrespective of your next steps; distinct fields have unique intersections and the exploration of such will allow you to be a competitive applicant, make an impact, and develop yourself and your interests.
Alexandra is a senior majoring in Molecular & Cell Biology and Human Rights. Click here to learn more about Alexandra.