Jumping into my freshman year, I was determined to get a start on my pre-professional track. This included a heavy coursework in which I came into contact with upperclassmen. I began to notice a pattern- many of these upperclassmen looked down on me, and often double checked my work, even when I had proven accuracy at a consistent level. I usually brushed it off- it wasn't that big of a deal, they weren't actively being rude. However, I decided to examine the stigma of being a freshman more when I had a particularly nasty comment made to me in my chemistry lab.
Honestly, I was expecting to have a negative comment from someone eventually, but I was unprepared for it when it occurred. I was in my Chem 1320 lab, a lower level chemistry course that many freshman take. I was discussing my upcoming genetics exam with my lab partner, and I attempted to bring her friend into the conversation, as I had heard the girl discussing her genetics course. I asked how she thought the exam would go, and I was wholly unprepared for the response I received: she snapped at me, and informed me that we were not in the same course.
While I understand that I might have been at fault for operating off of an assumption, in this case it was not unreasonable. Many were concurrently enrolled in Chem 1320 and Bio 2200, in fact the prerequisite for Bio 2200 was that you had to have already taken Chem 1320 and Bio 1500. There was one exception to this that I knew of: concurrent enrollment. I, along with classmates in the pre-professional track, utilized this exception in order to get further ahead in our credits.
What she said, was something along the lines of the following:
"I'm NOT in general genetics, I'm in a 3000 level course. You wouldn't be taking a 3000 level course with me. I'm a junior, you're just a freshman."
I was taken aback, not only because of the tone in which she delivered this, but also because of the implication in her words. Because I was a freshman, I wasn't at her level of intelligence. What she didn't know was that I was in fact taking a 3000 level course, 3200 med micro, and that I had taken a 4320 level course the previous semester and had received an A. Just because I was 'just a freshman' didn't mean that I was barred from taking anything other than 'freshman level' courses, and it certainly didn't automatically mean that I wasn't capable of handling a difficult schedule.
Reflecting on this encounter, I began fixating on the three words that stung the most- 'just a freshman.' My entire life I had been hearing of the stigma against freshman, yet it had never affected me quite like this before. I knew that I was entering a competitive field, but I didn't think the first obstacle I would have to overcome was my age. That was part of what I hated about the 'go around the circle, say your name, major, and your year,' game. As soon as I said 'freshman' in an upper level course, about 50% of the time, I would be frowned upon simply because of my age.
I had never set much importance in age. Accomplishments are something independent of age. The youngest person to win a Noble Prize was 17, yet the oldest person to win the award was 90. While I am by no means a future Nobel Prize winner, just because I am 18 doesn't mean that I am not incapable of doing my work to the level of a 19 or 20 year old that is enrolled in the same course as me.
In a perfect world, people would be able to look at others and judge them for their skill instead of their age. However, time and time again I am faced with judgement based on the issue of my age. While eventually, the freshman stigma will be dissolved, for the time being, I will have to settle by playing the introduction game by saying, "Claire, Clinical Laboratory Sciences," and conveniently forget to mention my status as 'just a freshman.'
