Daily Doses: Why Am I A Biology Major?

When it comes down to the hard and dirt truth of why I am a part of this fabulous and legendary science department, my reasons stem from both last minute decisions and subconscious objectives. How did I go from wanting to be a com-technologist, to medical biologist, to an environmental biologist?

Despite making these transitions within a one year time period, my entire career aspirations were based almost entirely on Star Trek… You may not believe it, but I have been a devout trekkie since I was four years old; watching all five series in their entirety, watching all Star Trek movies, having fifty plus Star Trek universe books in my personal library at home, and joining several online trekkie communities. After analyzing my various motivations for career choices, I realize many of them have stemmed from my love of Star Trek, and the advanced exploration of the unknown. I wanted to be a communication technology major because I wanted to be a part of the technological revolution, designing and building marvelous inventions, many of which are featured in the Star Trek universe. I wanted to become a medical biology major because I wanted to be a nurse, much like Nurse Chapel (Dr. Lenard McCoy’s helping hand on the Enterprise). She was strong willed, compassionate, and had the hotts for Spock, who was the Enterprise’s chief Vulcan scientist...

            Finally, I am now an environmental biology/Ecology major, because I have such compassion for our dying earth, and I want to do what I can to heal it. This aspiration comes greatly from the movie Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. It made me realize that even the smallest things we do against our earth could have major negative impacts for the future to come. In that movie, poachers killed two humpback whales in 1986; wiping out future generation whales (who could communicate with aliens using whale song), which in turn caused the destruction of mankind in the year 2286. The Enterprise had to go back in time to save the whales and bring them safely to the future (where humans were more environmentally conscious)… Perhaps our future can be the same.