Biology Major | El Camino College

Nicole P | El Camino College | College Advice Series

Q&A: Biology Major – Nicole P (3:36)

“I am a biology major, and the reason I chose bio was because in high school I took a physiology class and a pre-bio class, and I honestly fell in love with the body and the way our body works. And when I took physio, I just loved naming the different types of cells in our skin and everything that had to do with how our body functions.”

Why College

The whole idea is to go and to learn, but as well as to kind of have a degree that will benefit you in the future and your family. But mainly, it’s just for you to be independent and for you to have something you can be proud of and to show it off and to say, “I graduated from this school, and I learned this, and I am talented at this.” And it’s just a great way to just show womanpower and just to show that you enjoyed going to school and how you learned more about yourself.

What I Love About College

You’re in high school, and everything, it’s kind of like there’s like that class of bio, and you’re only learning this much. But then when you go to college, there’s different types of bio classes that you could take, and it just lets you kind of be like, “Okay. I didn’t like this part of bio, but I want to take this other division or this other type of bio class,” which was really nice. And I think that’s why I enjoy college a lot more than high school. And I feel like you girls will too because you’ll be able to see these other types of classes that kind of have to do more with what you want to learn about.

Choosing a Major

Just being in class, in the classes where you think you want to kind of explore more, like the subjects you want to explore more, pay more attention and even ask your teachers, “What do you recommend?” or, “Why did you get into this major? Why did you choose English?” or, “Why did you choose bio?” Or, “Why did you choose to be a physics teacher,” and see their experiences and then kind of think for yourself, “Maybe that’s what I want to do.” And in college, you have so many opportunities to decide what major fits right for you, and you have time, you know. And so I think that’s the best piece of advice I would give you.

Freshman Survival Tips

Just being able to be okay with whatever route you decide and to take that time and to talk to people that have taken that similar route that you’re going to take. For me, it was having other friends that were already at community college when I came and talking to them because they were also bio majors. Just not worrying about what other people think because, honestly, if you start worrying about what other people think, you’re just going to put yourself in a bad situation, and you don’t need that. You don’t need that in college.

Advice for Girls

Continue reaching for your goal, that your dreams are your goals in life now. And so being a STEM major, you will maybe go through rough patches, but don’t let that bring you down and to continue working hard for what you want to do because, ultimately, what you’re learning is to benefit you and to show you that you can do it and you’ll be able to accomplish all your goals and your dreams if you put in hard work and dedication. So, yeah, everybody’s rooting for you, your family, your friends. So we all know you can do it, and I know you can do it too. So good luck with everything.

Last Words

You can do it.