Why Biochemistry?

Before starting college, my plans were to attend Muhlenberg College in order to pursue a degree as a Biology major and start the Pre-Med track in hopes of attending medical school. Every person who I knew with medical school plans entered college as a Biology major, and I did not know there were any other options that could possibly lead me to my goals. After beginning my biology and general chemistry classes freshman year, I quickly learned that was not true. Biology is not the only path that will help to get someone to medical school.

I loved the math that was taught and used for concepts in general chemistry, and I decided to minor in Mathematics. I had already begun to branch away from the idea of choosing to be a Biology major. (I am so glad I decided to minor in math because it is an integral part in understanding the “why” behind the science that I am so interested in learning.) As the year went on, I enjoyed my chemistry class WAY more than I expected, as I was able to learn concepts in class and then apply them hands-on in lab and watch the concepts in action. I realized that I did not want to be a Biology major, and was leaning towards Chemistry, but I also did not want to completely detach myself from upper level biology courses. So, I decided to look into Biochemistry because before Muhlenberg, I was not fully aware of the existence of this branch of science – the possibility of a major that was a combination of both the biology and the chemistry I was so eager to learn.

ACS defines biochemistry as “the study of the structure, composition, and chemical reactions of substances in living systems” (https://pubs.acs.org/page/bichaw/about.html) – a definition that I would not have been able to comprehend the depth of during my freshman year. Simply put, I define biochemistry as the “why” behind the “how” of science. Biochemistry concepts help to explain why things exist in a certain manner. Until taking biochemistry and physical chemistry, I did not realize that I was always questioning “why” in the back of my head throughout all of my biology and organic chemistry classes. Why do organelles function the way they do in cells? Why do only certain gases exist in the atmosphere? These are a couple of questions that have a more complicated answer than what I ever expected.

Many of my alumni friends and doctors that I have shadowed with have told me that choosing to be a Biochemistry major was a smart decision because “I am already one step ahead.” I have yet to fully learn what was meant by this statement, but I know that my continued exposure to learning the “why” behind scientific concepts will help in my medical future. My future medical school journey entails learning about every detail about the processes within the human body and knowing how and why things occur or even do not occur. Biochemistry lines up perfectly with my plans of attending medical school because of my existing desire to learn the “why” for all concepts and the biochemical training I am receiving in order to possess the capabilities of answering those questions.

My choice to become a Biochemistry major was one of the best decisions I made after starting college. I have been able to get a glimpse of the intricate and endless world of biochemistry. As my Biochemistry major comes to an end with this Advanced Biochemistry course, it is only the beginning of my path into this field that I will be able to explore through a different detailed lens in medical school.