Isabella Zhang

Date submitted: 9/31/17

ENGW 3307
Project 1
Citation style: MLA
My Love-Hate Relationship with Science

Freshman year I took the worst class that I had ever taken. I still stand with this
statement having taken Organic Chemistry 1 & 2, Biochemistry, and Biostatistics. It was
called Inquiries in Cell and Molecular Biology and going into it I had no expectations except
that I hoped it wouldnt be too difficult. I was so wrong, that class was the first time I had
ever felt completely lost and hopeless in an academic setting.
I remember sitting in class and not knowing what my professor was talking about
and there was no textbook for me to read and learn. Our class started out with around
twenty-five people and by the end of the semester, there were only nine of us remaining. I
remember going to the professors office hours once to see if she had any tips for me and
she just looked at me, told me to try harder and ask my peers. Her class was unlike any
class I have taken here, with no textbook, PowerPoint presentations with virtually no
words on them, and a quiz almost every day based off topics we were told to go home and
research ourselves.
It was probably because I struggled so much in the class that it turned me away
from cell and molecular biology, I cannot read about this topic without getting flashbacks to
those dark days. Looking back now, I think the reason the course was not very structured
in the information presentation is because the field is so hot right now and new discoveries
are made every day. Thus, its hard to keep up and learn using a textbook that is a year or
more behind. Instead, we looked at recent publications and read books like The Forever Fix:
Gene Therapy and the Boy Who Saved It by Ricki Lewis which talked about gene therapy and
its possibilities.
This course turned me off from cell biology so I looked to other possible options and
I found psychology as a possible area of interest. I started volunteering and did a directed
study in an Interdisciplinary Affective Science Lab (IASL) on campus and loved it. I ran
experiments with human volunteers which I enjoyed much more than looking at cells
under a microscope. We studied the effects of mindfulness and meditation on interpersonal
flourishing, altruistic tendencies and compassion.
My project leader in the lab was invited to meet the Dalai Lama at a conference last
fall which was very exciting. Eastern religions are more open to mixing science with
religion which is very different from how it is in the West. The Dalai Lama embraces and
admits that science and Buddhism complement each other very well in certain instances
(2). Here, science is kept strictly apart from religion. In all my science classes, whether its
Genetics, Organic Chemistry, Physics, Biochemistry, there is no mention of religion. We
focus on the discoveries of Gregor Mendel and his contribution to genetics, Charles Darwin
and his theory of evolution, Watson and Crick and their discoveries on DNA, and follow
what the field has grown into because of their breakthroughs. Each of my classes follow a
classic path where what is learned first is typically the most fundamental discovery in the
field that everything else is based off, and then we progress from that starting point. I have
yet to come across a science course where it is taught in conjunction with religion.
In the U.S., there is constant conflict between religious groups and the concept of
evolution. My directed study in the lab opened a new world of science with religion that I
had never known about and it was exciting because it brought this mostly Eastern practice
to Northeastern. One of our studies looked at the effects of meditation and mindfulness on
anxiety. Another study we observed interpersonal flourishing between couples,
compassion, and altruistic behavior in relation to mindfulness. Previous studies similar to
ours have shown that practicing mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has been
associated with greater empathy and lower anxiety as well as an increase in their overall
quality of life (3). With that in mind, I made a note to try and become more mindful myself.
I have found that my experience at the IASL has been very impactful on my life. I
have been working on applying what we study in the lab to myself and how I approach
school and my relationships with others. It has also been helpful for me in changing my
approach to many classes that I dread and opening myself to many possibilities that I
normally would never consider.
My undergraduate experience has been filled with almost every facet of science
there is. I discovered that I disliked many of the major sciences such as cell and molecular
 biology, chemistry, physics and biochemistry. Before college and early on in college,
I only knew of medical school or academia as the career options for a biology major. Now
with all the courses I have had that I hated and loved and my research experience, I have
discovered a myriad of possibilities beyond the initial two. While on this path of
discovering all the subjects I disliked, I also stumbled upon a few lesser known areas of
interest such as the intersection of science and religion, and my interest in working with
people rather than microscopes and cell cultures. I hope to further explore these interests
and discover more of them as I complete my studies here and move on to graduate school.

Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my roommates for letting me bounce ideas off them and talk about my
experiences in classes at Northeastern with them. I would also like to thank my professors
in all my classes for helping me get to where I am today and helping me get closer to finding
the path I want to take.
 Sources: MLA format
1 Wepman, Dennis. "Kleitman, Nathaniel." American National Biography Online,
http://www.anb.org/articles/12/12-01800.html. Feb. 2000.
2 Armengol, Guillermo. The Universe in a Single Atom According to the Dalai Lama.
PENSAMIENTO, vol. 63 , no. 238, 2007, pp. 821-825.
3 Noonan, Steve. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. The Canadian Veterinary
Journal, vol 55.2, 2014, pp. 134135.