College can be hard, but if you are a science major, t can be the hardest thing you ever do.

But, it can also be the most rewarding.

Every biology major can relate to other majors in other universities because we all go through the same thing and struggle with the excessive studying and skipping “college life” to go to a lab or memorize different dates from the Big Bang to the early 1800’s. Life as a biology major can be tough and only medical dramas can explain what we as a group of students go through on a daily basis.

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1. The lack of Syllabus Day / Week

When you walk into your first day of a science lecture, expect a 10-minute explanation of the syllabus and then Chapter 1. So while everyone spends the majority of their class talking about the class and what is expected, you’ve already finished a whole chapter lecture.

2. Benefits of Sleep?

You talk about how important sleep is for your body and what happens when you don’t get enough, yet you still choose to pull all-nighters trying to study for the test.

3. Biology majors vs. the rest of the world

There will always be that Business major or English major that say “God, my major is so hard. Like I have so much to do and such little time." Well, have you tried to memorize the whole skeletal system, which nerves connect with what bones, and study for a chemistry quiz in two days? No, I didn’t think so. But even Biology majors don't know why we do it to ourselves.

4. Lab times

Lab just conflicts with everything. It can either be early in the morning when you could be sleeping or later in the afternoon when everyone else is out and about. It seems like you are either in a lecture hall or in a biology lab at all times of the week. Who else can say that they were looking at a dissected cat at 2:00 in the morning?

5. Tests...

You have a test coming up and you study and you study and you study… and guess what? You study more. But when you get to the test and it just feels like some shot in your chest but you at least know what rib the bullet went through to puncture your lung.

6. Other science classes

As a biology major, you have to take physics, chemistry, general and organic, research credits, physiology, ecology, microbiology, and many more. So while you may be a Pre-Med Biology student, be expecting to take a lot of classes that may have nothing to do with your future plans. I mean, why does a biology major have to take eight credit hours of physics?

7. Outsmarting people all the time

There is nothing better than figuring out what is wrong with someone or making a reference to something you just learned in class. But… people don’t always understand you when you try to explain an evolutionary cladogram in the Natural History Museum to a bunch of middle schoolers.

8. Biology squad=goals

When you find your niche with other biology majors, you are friends instantly. If you’re confused, they may understand it better than you do (most likely not, though). They are your homework and study groups, your personal tutors, therapists, and, a great group of friends that totally know EXACTLY what you’re going through.

9. First breakdown and revelation

There are a lot of firsts as a biology major, such as the first all nighter, the first failed test, the first dissection...I could go on. But the first breakdown is the most important one. It shows you how much you can handle before you crack which means that you know where to stop before it happens again. After the breakdown, you have this almost euphoric high of just, “Eh I don’t feel anything.”

10. Getting the lightbulb

When you finally understand a concept, the lightbulb is the greatest feeling in the world. You feel like a god almost because after hours and hours, days and days of studying, memorizing, tutoring, and crying, it finally clicked.

11. When people tell you to quit

When you complain about how hard it is to be a biology major, a lot of people will just tell you “Change majors. Find something else. If you don’t like it, just switch.” But that defeats the whole purpose. There is a reason you choose biology, whether it is for personal reasons, future goals or dream jobs, or you really enjoy learning more science.

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Look, Biology majors will ALWAYS complain about being a Biology major. Complaining comes with the major. There is so much information in such a little time as an undergraduate. This doesn't mean that we don't like the major, it just means that the major itself is a lot and our brains are overheating. Some Biology majors just decided on a whim to be a Biology major but when you get to the core of Biology majors, there are groups of us that truly love Biology and we want to do well and do something with our major in the world of science. So, we will complain, we will breakdown, we will bring up random science facts at random times but that comes with the major. You can't pick little things out of one major; you either take the major and all its struggles or leave it.