Biology- An Inspiration by Hannah

Biology- An Inspiration by Hannah - August 2016 Scholarship Essay

Ever since I can remember, science has always been part of my academic curriculum. Almost every class bored me. Having to learn how to use a ruler, and memorizing the equations to find the mass of an object, seemed to put me to sleep. However, the first day that I walked into my Biology classroom of my junior year of high school, I began to feel a change of heart towards science. From helping me decide my major in college, to enabling me to grow as a student, and allowing me to become more involved in my school's community, I found that I learned the most from Biology in high school.
Only having one more year until I graduate from high school, I have a strong sense that my major will center on disease research and other Biomedical Sciences. In class, our curriculum centered on the make-up of ecosystems, and how organisms interact within them, known as Ecology. By learning about ecosystems, and how diseases can profoundly affect them, I began to become interested in the composition of diseases, and how they can affect their hosts. Also, I began to want to study how diseases affect different populations of organisms. Unlike other science courses that I have taken in the past, such as Chemistry, I found that I can apply Biology more frequently to my life outside of school. This then assisted me in my love of Biology, as I found myself understanding how my body functions, and how I impact my own ecosystem of Flagstaff, Arizona. For example, dissecting a rat taught me how some animals have similar internal structures, such as a rat and a human. Learning the main structures, functions, and names of the body parts of a rat, hence, helped me to better comprehend the functions of my own body.
Before taking Biology in high school, a subject had never made me want to become a better student, or made me want to be of better help to my planet. Due to many of the tests in this class centering on memorizing all of the functions of a certain organism or process, I felt that I became better at studying. By having to fully understand all of the processes and every fine detail, I learned that it is best to study for 2-3 days, rather than cram the night before. Additionally, because I enjoyed the subject, and always wanted to learn more, I felt that it was easier to study for tests. This also helped me to adapt better studying habits for my other classes, as I learned to step away from panicking and cramming. Another means in which I grew as a student, is that I became more aware of my impact on the planet. After learning about population curves and how the daily practices of humans can result in the loss of clean water, not enough food spread equally throughout the world, and an increase in disease, I became more involved in the subject matter outside of school. Being an advocate for organic farming and less big corporations and machines that pollute our planet, I found that Biology has made me a more helpful and informed individual.
Besides Biology teaching me to support the health and preservation of our planet in my own home, it also helped me to share these topics at school with me peers and teachers. By being a member of my school's National Honor Society, one of the service projects that I participated in was the Garden Committee. The purpose of this project was to teach the staff and student body of my school to enjoy nature, to learn how to grow their own produce by using compost bins, and to recycle. This aided me in becoming more involved with my school and my peers, along with enabling me to make some lifelong friends throughout the process. As of now, I can officially say that Biology has opened my eyes to the importance of our world, and has made me want to learn more about it each and every day.
There are many lessons that I have learned so far in high school, but most of them I have learned from taking Biology. From helping me narrow down the major I want to pursue in college, to becoming a better student, and showing me the necessity of preserving the earth, Biology has made a powerful impact on my life, both academically and socially. Having to still commence my senior year of high school, there could be the possibility that I will take another profound class. On the other hand, I do not believe that I will unearth another subject that will alter me opinions entirely, like Biology has.