Justine LaPlant
ENGL 111
9 Nov 2011
Becoming a Biology Major
Taking the step from high school to college is terrifying and exhilarating at the same
time. For the first time, you are given the choice to decide what classes to take, what professors
to avoid, and you have complete freedom of your own life. This can be overwhelming, and on
top of it all, you have to decide what major and minor you want to pursue. Deciding upon a
major can be the hardest thing you do in your entire collegiate career. Your major determines
not only what job you can get after college, but also what graduate schools you can attend after
undergraduate education. One of the most valuable majors to strive for is biology. Biology
offers many opportunities, from research to medicine to conservation of wildlife. However,
becoming a major in biology is not the easiest major to conquer. The program requires hard
work and dedication to successfully reach completion. Howver, most people find the outcome
extremely rewarding. Although deciding upon a major can one of the most difficult decisions,
with proper research and guidance, it can become extremely simplified.
Biology is a great field to study, but can also be an extremely challenging one. If you are
seriously considering this as your major, be prepared to study, study, study. To graduate with a
major in biology, you must not only fulfill all General Education requirements, but also take
many other courses, including physics, chemistry, math, and many biology classes. Although
biology is a difficult field, it also has many exciting aspects. As a major in biology, you have the
opportunity to learn botany, zoology and genealogy, among dozens of other things. Botany is
the study of plants, zoology is the study of animals, and genealogy is the study of genes and
chromosomes and how they communicate and work with one another to create different traits in
human being. Graduating with a degree in biology can set you up for some of the most
rewarding and interesting careers currently available.
Many colleges offer biology programs to their students, but one of the best programs is
right here at Saginaw Valley State University. “The Department of Biology offers two degrees
at the Bachelor’s level and students may choose either a major or minor in biology” (Pelzer). At
Saginaw Valley, we also have many conveniences that larger schools cannot offer. For example,
at Saginaw Valley “biology classes are usually small and are taught by experienced professors
whose primary concern is in quality instruction. The faculty members also are involved in
research and professional development and are very interested in including students in these
activities through directed studies and independent research projects.” (Pelzer). Saginaw Valley
offers state of the art facilities and ample opportunities to meet one on one with professors
directly involved in research. Attending Saginaw Valley to major in Biology is an extremely
wise decision, and will prepare you for either your profession or to advance to graduate school.
If you choose to major in Biology at Saginaw Valley State University, it is recommended
that you join different clubs to help you achieve success. One such group is the Biology Club.
The Biology Club is a welcoming, supportive group that invites different speakers to come in
and plans activities centered on Biology. Also, because many Biology majors choose to minor in
Chemistry, it is wise to join the Chemistry Club as well, which basically does the same thing as
the Biology Club, only it is centered on Chemistry. Samuel Tilmon, from the Career Services
Office at Saginaw Valley State University offers the insight to “…try to see if you can work in
the Biology lab here [at Saginaw Valley], to give you more exposure in that area. If you have a
certain area that you’re trying to get into, you might consider an internship, maybe working for
the department of agriculture, the DNR, or something like that so you can get some actual
experience… You want to get into some program that gives you actual hands on experience”
(Tilmon). Saginaw Valley also offers a free tutoring service to all students. “Tutoring is
available for: Chemistry and Biology….Monday through Thursday” (Gennrich). The tutoring is
mentored by both students and professors who have a passion for Chemistry and Biology. Many
students utilize this resource to ensure they graduate with their degree in biology.
After you graduate with your degree in biology, you have many options. You can go on
to graduate school to get a Master’s degree, or you can go straight into a career. With a
Bachelor’s degree in Biology, you can work in a research lab, discovering new things and
publishing them, or you can work in the Healthcare field. Also, many schools hire teachers with
a Bachelor’s degree to teach Biology at the high school and middle school level. If you chose to
