Whenever people ask me what my major is and what I want to do with the degree after undergrad, people’s first facial reaction is usually stunned and impressed. I always answer with, “I am majoring in bioengineering with an emphasis in biomaterials on the pre-med track”. Then, I quickly follow up with the fact that I want to go to medical school. Of course then I am asked what field of medicine I would like to go into which is cardiac anesthesia. The following question almost nine times out of ten is along the lines of “why do you want to do that to yourself? Bioengineering is already so much work and to add being pre-med on top of that!”

Of course, there are many times I wonder that as well when I’ve spent more time on the 3rd floor of Cooper Library than my dorm room. I was drawn to the idea of bioengineering because it combined creativity with biology, human anatomy and physiology, and math. (Somehow I was good at calculus in high school...Thank you Mrs. Carroll, my AP Calc AB teacher) As a bioengineer you learn invaluable problem solving skills that will prove more than beneficial in the medical field. I am trained to always find a better, more efficient way to solve a problem through bioengineering. In the medical field, physicians constantly have to tailor their care to different patients in order to make the patient more comfortable. When I further explain my reasoning for majoring in bioengineering, people usually remark that I am working really hard to work even harder to become a physician. Although, yes, I’m probably taking more difficult courses and not making it easy on myself to get into medical school, I feel as though bioengineering will give me invaluable soft skills that will differentiate me from my fellow colleagues.