If you talk to me for more than a few seconds, then you will quickly realize that I am a biology lover. If you want to get in on a discussion about how cells work or how a muscle contracts, then you just need to hit me up because that is my thing. I live the typical obsessive biology major's life. I love to dissect and look at squishy insides, and I watch surgeries in my free time thanks to YouTube. So if you like biology and "Finding Nemo," then first of all, we should be friends because those are two of my favorite things, and secondly, you will definitely appreciate this post!
1. First Discovering Science
When you first discovered science in elementary or high school, your fins perked up. You fell in love and probably knew that there is nothing else in life that compares to the happiness that cellular biology brings.
2. Dissection Days
When you are a biology major and you hear it's a dissection day in lab, you get stoked. You cannot wait to see what you are dissecting and what is inside. You find weird things that you are not really sure what they are or what their purpose is. They are just kind of squishy sometimes. When you really know you love what you do is when you start to name your dissected specimens. They may even become your "Squishy."
3. Getting Out of Labs
When you get out of lab, you want nothing more than a really, really good shower. Maybe with some bleach, because who knows what you touched in there. You spent all kinds of class time learning about how much bacteria can be found in animals, then in lab the next thing you know you somehow have sheep's blood all over you. After lab showers are your best friend.
4. Information Overload
Sometimes you can sit in class and pay really close attention, taking great notes and reading the book ahead of time, but you still experience an information overload. Learning how the heart contracts, how nerve impulses occur, and how actin and myosin interact can be really overwhelming. Sometimes you just feel like you are swimming in a giant sea of confusion and big words.
5. Trying to Pronounce Big Words
Do I need to say anything more? Reading through a textbook can be comical because of the seemingly impossible pronunciations of some words. You frequently see words with more letters than you thought were even possible.
6. Cramming for Tests
In biology, cramming the night before a test is literally the worst thing you can do. You will experience nothing but feeling like your head is going to explode. You may feel like doing some crying as well, but hey, while you are crying, at least you know what causes those tear ducts to function.
7. Trying to Sound Like You Know What You are Talking About![]()
On those occasions when you do cram, you just try your best to sound like you know what your talking about. This often involves making up words, using the correct words in the wrong context, and being completely and totally wrong. Honestly, the results are about as funny as Dory trying to speak whale.
8. Being Questioned by Professors
In class when your professor starts to ask you questions about the components of a cell and their functions, you are obviously expected to answer on the spot. You really feel like nothing more than a fish in a tank when Darla is tapping the glass, prodding you for answers that you simply don't have.
9. You Sometimes Know Way Too Much
Studying biology, pathogens, diseases, and parasites, you quickly realize you know way too much. In life you start to think about all the horrible things that you could be introduced to out in the world. You come up with worse case scenarios and see everything that could possibly go wrong. Sometimes you even diagnose yourself, because you are positive that you have some horrible rare disease.
10. Dangers of Food
This often leads to changing some dietary habits. Zoology teaches you way too much about the things that can be living in your food. Biology majors understand that sushi could come with some serious consequences and thats why "fish are friends, not food."
11. Sometimes You Think about Changing Majors
It is probably weekly that I question my life choices in regards to my major. I am always thinking about how much easier it would have been to do a different major. Then I remember how much suffering I have already endured, as my biology classes remind me how long I have stuck with them so far.
12. You Realize how Much You Love it
Riding through classes like physiology and molecular virology, you realize how much you actually love your biology major, regardless of how often you want to switch. You love learning about regulation of blood volume and parasites that can cause blindness, and you realize that after all, it is a pretty fun ride!
13. You Decide to "Just Keep Swimming"
The suffering is severe at times, but looking at everything from a broader perspective, you decide to just keep swimming. You know that nothing will make you happier than learning all about how the body functions!
