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Some
Important Things to Think About...
It Isn't Easy...
The
biological sciences is a demanding discipline, and any career based
on it is equally demanding. We live in an age of rapid progress
in all areas of biology. Information on everything from disease
to genome sequencing to conservation ecology is arriving by the
bushel, by the minute. And that information is increasingly quantitative,
complex and even abstract. New discoveries also present us with
difficult decisions about genetic testing, release of transgenic
organisms, preservation of habitat, environmental degradation and
a host of other issues, all of which require serious consideration
of complex data and a variety of opinions. In other words, if you
want to be a biology major and go on to a career in the discipline,
get used to dealing with difficult subjects entailing a lot of study.
And get used to it from your first course in biology. Face it, and
deal with it. You have no other choice. There is NO easy way to
do it. Besides, the competition is stiff for admission to professional
schools and for jobs. Others will be doing their homework, so you
had better do it too. Taking shortcuts now will mean disaster later.
There
are things you can do, habits you can form at an early stage in
your UGA career that will make your life as a BIO major easier.
For one thing, get used to studying. Make up your mind to read assignments
BEFORE coming to lecture, so material you hear in lecture will be
more meaningful. Then, that evening, review your reading in the
context of your lecture notes. DO NOT WAIT until a day or two before
the exam to read your assignments. It’s impossible to absorb
all that material in so short a time! Second, do ACTIVE, not passive,
learning. Don’t just read the book. Stop every so often and
ask yourself questions about the reading material and lecture, and
write out your answers. Try to place something you just read in
the context of a previous concept, page or chapter. If you have
a friend in class, get together regularly to discuss the material
and bounce questions off each other. For more tips about active
learning, take a look at the following informative website (www.botany.uga.edu/~darley/studybio.html).
Third,
ATTENDANCE MATTERS! Really. No joke. No b.s. In the recent years,
we conducted two separate experiments in which students in attendance
on random days, in two separate introductory courses, were asked
to sign an attendance sheet. The final course grades of those students
were then compared to the class as a whole. In both cases, the students
in class on the sample day did a full half point GPA HIGHER in the
course. That half point often translates into a whole letter grade!
It may seem fashionable and cool not to come to class, but IT ISN’T
SMART. Don’t let others tell you otherwise.
Get to Know the Faculty
Another
good tip as you begin the year is to get to know the BIO faculty.
Don’t hesitate to ask questions about subjects covered in class.
See the professor after class if you are curious about something
(s)he covered. Take advantage of office hours. Office hours are
not just to complain about grades; faculty make themselves available
after class to help you with the material! Remember, the faculty
are a resource outside of formal instruction time. Getting to know
faculty can provide informal learning experiences, lead to laboratory
research opportunities which satisfy the BIO major lab requirement,
and provide for more INFORMED LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION for professional
schools. You might be surprised at how many students come to see
professors in their senior year asking for letters of recommendation,
when the professor’s sole knowledge of the student is a grade
in an intro course two years earlier! That professor has little
to write on the recommendation form, other than the grade. BE SMART!
Avoid this problem by getting to know your professors. Squeaky doors
get the grease, as the saying goes. Don’t listen to anyone
who tells you it isn’t cool to talk to professors.
Be Curious!
One
of the best ingredients for academic success is curiosity; in other
words, a natural desire to learn. Let me tell you a true story:
Not long ago, an ex-student overheard a conversation I had with
an advisor in Arts and Sciences about the advantages of a liberal
arts education. The student had graduated with a degree in another
college, and was back in school taking all of the courses he now
realized he should have taken while he was here but was too myopic
to do so. He had been out in the business world and realized how
much he had missed, and how much he was handicapped career-wise
by his narrow education. He urged us to encourage students to take
an enlightened, liberal view of learning; i.e., learning for learning’s
sake. We urge the same thing, especially as it relates to biology.
Take advantage of the Biosciences Learning Center (BLC). In many
cases your instructors will use the BLC to post information, readings,
videos, old exams, and other material relevant to your courses.
However, you can use the BLC to learn in other ways, in a relaxed
manner. For example, use the BLC (or your home computer) to browse
the World Wide Web using key science words. There are numerous web
sites that will give you lots of information about everything from
Arabidopsis to evolution to potential life on Mars. You can browse
the NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com)
for science articles, especially on Tuesday when it features ‘Science
Times’ pages. The Times has lots of interesting articles on
major advancements in science. Other major newspapers, like the
Boston Globe and Atlanta Journal Constitution, regularly feature
science stories, the latter particularly on Sundays. Likewise, ABCNews.com
has a web page that features science stories. When you read, stop
and ask yourself how the information relates to something you learned
in a course. Make a list of questions to pursue elsewhere, such
as your biochemistry, genetics or microbiology textbook. If you
hear or read about the presence of StarLink transgenic corn in taco
chips and want to know if it will really hurt you, research the
subject on the internet. And don’t hesitate to seek out a faculty
member expert in the area of interest. Individual departments list
their faculty in brochures or on Worldwide Web pages. We have an
incredibly diverse, talented faculty in the biological sciences,
and most welcome inquiries from interested students!
You
can also spend free time in the Science Library reading weekly issues
of Science and Nature, which have cutting edge research articles
as well as informative, well written perspective pieces and news
about current developments in science. It’s a good idea to
set aside a specific hour or so for this each week, so it becomes
routine. You might also consider subscribing to Science or Nature,
which have special student rates. Any recent issue has a subscription
card, or ask in the BIO office. Both Nature and Science have web
sites, with more limited coverage of each issue (http://www.nature.com,
and http://science-mag.aaas.org/science).
Discover Magazine also has a web site: http://www.enews.com/magazines/discover.
These are all good ways to help stay "literate" in biology
and science in general.
Of
course, don’t stop at science. Take the time to think about
all sorts of subjects and issues. After all, science impinges on
just about every aspect of our lives. You might want to start writing
your opinions in the form of short essays in a personal journal
(which will also help hone your writing skills), and/or meeting
with your friends regularly to talk things over. Do it.
In
other words, take the time to cultivate CURIOSITY, and an appreciation
for lifelong learning, without prompting by exams, term papers,
and other course requirements. Read, because it’s fun to learn,
and because it makes you a better informed, more flexible person,
which will pay dividends in the future!
Hone Your Writing Skills
Communication
skills are important to employers. As science becomes more technical
and complex, companies look for people who can effectively communicate
research results to financial analysts, stockholders and the general
public. With increasing importance of the Internet as a communication
medium, good writing is even more advantageous. Perusal of employment
ads in Science magazine over the past year turned up repeated mention
of writing/communication skills. So, take advantage of your years
at UGA to hone your writing and communication skills. Take courses
offered through various departments that provide opportunities to
write. The Franklin College has a Writing Intensive Program featuring
a variety of courses that emphasize writing skills (http://parallel.park.uga.edu/~mballif/writing.html).
Keep a personal journal in which you write down reflections and
opinions about current issues and questions. Use active study techniques
in which you pose questions to yourself about course material, and
write out the answers. Consider
writing
letters to the editor of newspapers or short articles for newsletters
about science, hobbies, or whatever interests you. In other words,
take every opportunity to WRITE.
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