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Biochemistry degree! Yay!

rant*N*rave

rant*N*rave

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I felt the need to have a little brag - I'm finally graduating with an honors BS in biochemistry from UW-Madison!!!!!!! It took me 7 years because I've had to drop out several times because of illness, but after my exam today and one tomorrow, I'm done!!! Back when I was in the hospital, I never thought I'd finish, so this is a great, great feeling!

But on a relevant note, I've noticed a ton of people asking questions about biochem and science majors lately, and I want to make myself available for any questions people might have - it took a lot of BSing around (*rimshot*) to pick my degree and get it to work out right, so I know how it goes. Pretty much all my friends have science degrees, and I know tons of people going to med school, so I've heard alllll the stories (and, I must say, holy shit! ).

I'd also like to ask if anyone here has dealt with extended/chronic illness in school and whether it affected your decision to continue your education - I was originally planning to go to grad school, but that just can't work out right now. I'm mentally and physically exhausted from the last 7 years of bullshit, and bureaucratic nonsense that comes with being an "unusual" student is completely overwhelming. Did you ever go back if you left? Did you just tough it out? Or did you say fuck it? Did you skip college altogether?
 
Congratulations! That is very impressive. You must have an amazing head on your shoulders. Not just sheer intelligence either, but a hard work ethic. That is awesome :)

Yes. I was once a Biotechnology major, but I got really sick and had a number of other issues. Opiate abuse, Ulcerative Colitis, bouts of depression (possibly borderline personality disorder, I haven't been officially diagnosed yet though), and Asthma attacks have all contributed to me fucking up several semesters. I am the type to get either an A or a W.
I decided that, even though I am very interested in the sciences, life is too short (life could be VERY short for me if I'm not careful) for me to pursue anything other than the one thing that I REALLY love, and that is music. So I am planning on being a music major from now on, with the hopes of getting most of my income from selling records and playing live shows. I am most certainly an unusual student.

I took this current semester off due to Ulcerative Colitis, and it left me with LOTS of free time to pursue music. I think it's a blessing in disguise in order to get lots of practicing time in. I have been more studious than ever: reading from Berklee College of music text books in my spare time, practicing boring fingering exercises that I normally wouldn't want to do, and learning way more material than ever before. I feel like there's no way I shouldn't be a music major because I actually ENJOY reading the text books and practicing. That was absolutely not the case when I was a Biotech major. We'll see what happens though...but I'm excited about it

Congratulations again!
 
A sincere congratulations from me as well. I'm currently still working on my B.Sc. and likely will be for the next few years while I juggle paying bills, but it's nice to see someone make it out the other side.

And since you asked..

I have an associates degree in IT with a post-grad in technical writing, but after a couple years of employment, had a change of heart, and wanted a real challenge. University certainly has provided that, and then some.

As for illness, while I do not currently suffer from any physical maladies, I've struggled with substance abuse, and that has a way of complicating the mental state. That, along with being a (chronologically) mature student, coming from a non-traditional background, and being unable to keep to any standard sleeping schedule, all-in-all presents more than enough of a challenge.
 
Congratulations. :D I have two more years to go for mine. I'm not sure if I'm going to pursue graduate school either. I always thought I would, but I don't feel close to ready to commit to a specific career path.
 
Congratulations. Are you thinking about going on to grad school or are you going to try out industry for a while?
 
congrats on sticking with it and making it happen :) now get a damn job ya bum (and do good)
 
Great job rnr, I'm just now becoming a senior chemistry major with a biochemistry track (that is, specifically majored in chemistry but with lotsa biochem classes). Just got done taking biochem 2 and shit is definitely not easy. Congrats
 
rant*N*rave said:
I felt the need to have a little brag - I'm finally graduating with an honors BS in biochemistry from UW-Madison!!!!!!! It took me 7 years because I've had to drop out several times because of illness, but after my exam today and one tomorrow, I'm done!!! Back when I was in the hospital, I never thought I'd finish, so this is a great, great feeling!

But on a relevant note, I've noticed a ton of people asking questions about biochem and science majors lately, and I want to make myself available for any questions people might have - it took a lot of BSing around (*rimshot*) to pick my degree and get it to work out right, so I know how it goes. Pretty much all my friends have science degrees, and I know tons of people going to med school, so I've heard alllll the stories (and, I must say, holy shit! ).

I'd also like to ask if anyone here has dealt with extended/chronic illness in school and whether it affected your decision to continue your education - I was originally planning to go to grad school, but that just can't work out right now. I'm mentally and physically exhausted from the last 7 years of bullshit, and bureaucratic nonsense that comes with being an "unusual" student is completely overwhelming. Did you ever go back if you left? Did you just tough it out? Or did you say fuck it? Did you skip college altogether?
Click to expand...

Congrats! I recently have faced some issues with my schooling. I had some problems at the beginning of the semester that thwarted my advancement in the program. I'm now awaiting a school hearing to see if I get another chance to continue my education. I'm worried that things won't pan out 8)
 
Congrats!

I got a BS w/ honors in chemistry and I gotta say, you should totally consider grad school if you don't want to go straight into a job as a lab monkey in industry. You'll be working for Ph.D.s... not alongside them.

They pay your tuition and give you a living stipend in grad school, and you can live somewhere new for a few years. Plus a Ph.D. gets you into a whole nother level of pay/responsibilities.
 
Well done. UW has a rigorous program. I'm sure you have a ton of doors open so that you can now pursue what you want to =).
 
Thanks everyone :)

yucatanboy2 said:
Congrats!

I got a BS w/ honors in chemistry and I gotta say, you should totally consider grad school if you don't want to go straight into a job as a lab monkey in industry. You'll be working for Ph.D.s... not alongside them.

They pay your tuition and give you a living stipend in grad school, and you can live somewhere new for a few years. Plus a Ph.D. gets you into a whole nother level of pay/responsibilities.
Click to expand...
I'm planning on going into management/sales/marketing or genetic/medical/scientific database and novel software production and integration, not lab work, and from what I've heard from my professors, a Master's would be worthless for me - my coursework was so rigorous, and known to be that rigorous, that unless I had a very specific line of research in mind, I'd be throwing money down a hole (I've already worked in a funded lab, genetically modified organisms/cloned stuff/practiced all kinds of advanced lab technique, done assloads of scientific writing, and done my own research, so I've already developed the skills and abilities they look for from an average graduate student, I just don't have extensive knowledge on a particular topic...). And frankly, from what I understand of graduate research these days, I'd be just as well off getting paid to work alongside a PhD as paying to work alongside one... Even if that weren't the case, I'm physically incapable of grad school right now - undergrad put me in the hospital...

As such, I'm more concerned about whether people found it difficult to get back into the whole school thing after being out for a while and whether grad school is just as difficult as undergrad with health problems. My professors were for the most part very forgiving, but lab rats won't wait two weeks for you to get healthy and chemical reactions don't carry themselves out... I'm concerned that I'd end up dropping out of grad school several times just like I dropped out of undergrad, and there's a lot more at stake in grad school - it's not like if you miss a class one semester you can just take it the next one without question...
 
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