Some people think biology is one of the most interesting STEM subjects. Others might think biology can teach people to consider things from a different angle. However, when I was younger, I did not believe that biology should even belong in the field of sciences. Because my first biology teacher in 9th grade told us to remember and solely memorize the different definitions of crazy long and technical biological terms. This made me dislike biology for quite a long time. If you ask me if I want to study biology or write a 50-page research paper, I will probably choose the second option.
This summer, I signed up for Columbia University’s summer school. Because of the coronavirus, I was not make my way to New York City to participate in this program in person. But now, all of the students enrolled in the course was able to video chat with the teacher as she sent us the microscope prior that will be used in class. Before the summer school began, I was not very excited because it was a biology course. However, the professor from Columbia University, who taught the course, surprised me by the first lesson. Compared with my 9th-grade teacher, she gives more time for us to understand and lets us figure out different organisms by ourselves. During the process, I suddenly realized, all of those terminologies that used to give me a heart attack are no longer that stressful anymore. In the first class, I still did not realize why I could see such a big difference. But I got the answer next day.
The first homework assigned to us was to use the microscope to find and identify different Protozoa or other multi-celled organisms. When I had the first look at my sample, I was astonished because I was not expecting it to have so many little organisms living in a single drop of water. After I spent a lot of time identifying those organisms, I suddenly realized that those technical words did not look unfamiliar to me. All of the words had a clear picture I could match up with. This microscope experiment helped me immensely.
As time passed, the teacher gave us a task on writing a formal research paper about a topic that we feel is the most intriguing. During my research, I had so many questions because this was my first time writing a biology research paper. Therefore, I arranged a one-on-one meeting with my teacher. At first, I thought some of my questions were not very deep, but my teacher answered every one of them and gave me more research ideas that might fit my topic better. Even though I finished this class, I still want to thank my biology teacher. Because without her help, my research paper could not have been this good and technical in the end.
In conclusion, after this summer school lesson, I think my interest in biology rose to a level that I have never imagined. I think the only person that inspired my interest in biology is my summer school teacher Mrs. Alexander. She is the best biology teacher I’ve had yet and she led me to a world that I would not have had access to. I used to believe that one person does not have enough power to change another’s perspective. However, I have to say, I was wrong about that. A person can change an old opinion on a fascinating topic. Thank you, Mrs. Alexander, you led me into the world of biology and I am sure that I will not let you down.
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