Finished

So now I’m coming home.  It seems strange to be going home, but I suppose it’s time.  I finished off my freshmen year last week with a chemistry final and am currently somewhere over Canada heading back to AK.  Overall the semester went well I’d say.  I enjoyed my classes for the most part, except for math, and even math possibly had its moments.  Genetics of course was my favorite class, which is good considering I’m a biology major and will potentially be working in the field as my career.  Despite some frustrations chemistry worked out well, though I won’t go so far as to say I’m looking forward to organic next year. 

One of the most meaningful parts of my first year here has been through my community service.  I volunteered 150 hours this year.  This service got me out into the community, where I experienced Boston on a whole new level.  Through my community partner I interacted with people I would have otherwise never had connected with, and hopefully influenced their lives in a positive way.  I taught a class of 12 first graders at the Fletcher Maynard Academy each week.  Our curriculum was Engineering Around the World, and though I’m a biology person and not an engineer, it was still fun to teach about famous engineering feats such as the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids, and the Eiffel Tower, and to help the girls attempt to construct these items as well.  One of the most valuable lessons I learned through this experience was how to be teacher.  It is way more difficult than I thought it would be, and left me completely drained most days.  I now have a new found appreciation for the teachers I have had in the past and will have in the future.

I have always enjoyed serving, and community service is not a new concept for me, but this experience has still made me appreciate more the people who dedicate their lives to helping others.  I know that I want a career where I can help people.  I used to think I wanted to do research in biotechnology, but now after having served more consistently for an entire year I think I may want to go field of biology more focused on the humanity side.  Apart from helping me grow individually as a person, my service has also influenced what I may end up doing for the rest of my life.  I am very thankful for this opportunity, and look forward to serving through Northeastern for the next four years.

I don’t know what I want to do with my life, and this first year in college has done more to open possibilities than to concrete my life plan.  As is obvious, I love biology, and I’ve known that for quite some time now.  As everyone has told me however, plans are bound to change as you progress through college and life in general.  I don’t know what I want to do with my life.  I don’t know if I want to go into biotechnology and focus on genetics and molecular biology, I don’t know if I want to go into conservation biology and focus on the environment, and I don’t know if I want to be a doctor.  I’m still figuring it out, and as I take more and more classes I discover that I have even less of an idea of what I want to do.  I suppose this is a good thing, Northeastern is opening thousands of doors and allowing me to explore and find what truly interests me.  I am headed into biology, and while that may seem like a concrete direction, with how vast the subject is it’s like saying I’m in Alaska and am headed south, which could take me anywhere, and only time will tell.