Hi! My name is Rachel Reyes and I am a Biology major here at QU. I also minor in Chemistry and Psychology with a Pre-Health Concentration. Currently, I am starting my MBA here at QU as well, on the Health Care Management track, and aspire to use all the knowledge and skills I have gained to become a Physician Assistant. I chose my major, Biology, because I wanted to learn more about the human body, but on a cellular level. It’s so interesting because when you think of biology you think of nature and cells, which is accurate. Though, there is so much going on inside our bodies in relation to biology as well. So, I wanted to learn more about this realm of the discipline and understand WHY things are happening to my body or to others. Also, I am really into the environment and making our planet a better, more sustainable place to live for years and years. With that, being a Biology major encapsulated all of this. Now, being a senior I can genuinely say that I am so thankful that I chose Biology at QU.
I have fostered amazing relationships with my professors and life-long friendships from my major/classes I have taken. The BIO department really is like a family and I talk about it all the time. I can say that all of my best friends are from my major and I still speak to all my past professors in BIO. I have also learned so much from everyone I have come across in my four years here. I have gained so many skills such as leadership, critical thinking, the ability to work with others, understood and displayed student autonomy, etc. As well as, I have developed into a more confident and knowledgeable person and student in my personal life and academic life, which is something I am forever grateful for.
When I was a freshman, I used to be so shy, barely spoke in class, was scared of making friends and getting called on in class, and was a very intrinsic narrow thinker. Now, I am very involved at school, participate and engage during class, met so many people and created friendships, am less scared of getting called on, have a more holistic way of thinking and perspective, and take every opportunity that comes my way from the BIO department or QU in general. One of these opportunities, actually, was to do my experiential learning project with the Learning Commons at Quinnipiac. Being one of the ideas I thought of after my first BIO class here, I wanted to implement Peer Catalysts (Peer Educators) into Biology 150/151 classes this Fall. This was definitely an unconventional project as it has never been done. Though, working at QU for the Peer Catalyst program, I was very passionate about this idea and pushed to have this project approved, which then it was. I then worked with my freshman biology 150/151 professor and my managers at the Learning Commons to seek out the possible success of this implementation. Everyone I worked with trusted me enough to lead the project and seek out its end goal, which I am proud to say I accomplished after many meetings and obstacles. Now, I am one of the three BIO Peer Catalysts in the Freshmen BIO courses, where we assist in-class activities AND helping the first-year students adapt to the college lifestyle. I am so grateful to the BIO department for letting me do this project and believing in the power of peer education. As you can see, this opportunity was one of the many I am proud of and Freshman year me could have never expected to accomplish and gain so much from all of my experiences and learning here with the BIO department. I’m also happy to have documented most of my college experiences by filming my experience for Youtube and cannot wait to look back at them and the memories.
Though, because of all my experiences, the relationships made, the development my major has allowed me to do, and all that I have learned, I really recommend choosing Biology at QU.
