January 20, 2004
A: FROM MENTOR DIANA DIONISIO IN CA
I think that when people say they don't like a subject, the major reason is because it is hard or the subject doesn't come naturally to them. Even subjects in hight school that I thought I was pretty good at, are degrees more difficult in college and I feel like I hate the subject. My advice is just to keep trying. Go to your teacher and ask for clarifications on topics that aren't clear to you, study in groups with friends because talkin about the cell will help you learn it. If you teach things to other people, you more deeply understand it and then your friends can explain the things you don't understand in a different way. Lastly, don't just try to memorize things, try to really understand what's going on so it will help you remember and make mnemonics for the cell parts and functions.
********************
A: FROM MENTOR JOAN LUSK IN RI
You have an interesting conflict there: wanting to know some science
in spite of it being your "least favorite subject." What makes it
both attractive (you want to learn) and unattractive at the same
time? Actually, there are many things that we want that aren't good
for us, and don't want that _are_ good for us, so why should I be
surprised to hear that, for you, science is one of those conflicted
areas? But it would be a good exercise for you to articulate what is
is that attracts you and what repels you about science.

Sometimes a bad or boring teacher can make science more difficult
than it really is. Finding other people to talk to, to clarify
questions and show why scientific questions really _are_ interesting,
can help. Even talking with your peers in the class can be helpful.
If they tend to agree that the teaching is bad, maybe you can, as a
group, think past the particular teacher and ask each other why what
you're studying really might be interesting and important. You might
even find ways to appraoch the teacher that would make him or her a
better communicator.

It's hard to do well in a subject that you don't enjoy. That kind of
discipline is rare in modern America. I'm working with a lot of
Chinese graduate students now, who were told they had to study
science because they showed talent for it at a young age. Now some
(ah, the corrupting influence of American hedonism!) are suffering a
lot because they are questioning for the first time whether they
_want_ to be scientists. Be glad that you're in a country that
allows you to follow your interests and talents, and give you second
chances to find the right field! (I've also seen a lot of students
become interested in medicine too late to study the prerequisites in
college, and they have to take course after graduation before they
can apply to med school.)

A lot of students have trouble with the vocabulary of biology. It
contains a lot of very fancy-seeming words based on Latin or Greek,
and now few of us have studied Latin or Greek. Only some of these
words have ordinary English synonyms. For example, erythrocytes are
"red blood cells" and "erythro" comes form the Greek for "red",
"cyte" from Greek for a hollow or receptacle. [I looked this up -
don't think I just know Greek!] There are medical dictionaries that
can help you with definitions of biological terminology, for terms
that are to obscure for ordinary dictionaries.

I think it's too easy to be daunted by biological terminology. If
you describe to yourself what the particular cell functions are and
how they operate, you'll find yourself needing words to name them.
When those words are filling your need, they'll stick in your mind
much better than if you make a vocabulary list or a set of flash
cards. For example, when a cell divides it has to ensure that each
daughter cell gets a copy of all the DNA... visualize the DNA
condensed into packages suitable for being sorted into the daughter
cells (Oh yes, the chromosomes!) and being pulled into the daughter
cells by tiny rope (ah, the spindle fibers, I forget exactly which
protein those are made of but I could look it up, and the fibers
attach to the chromosomes at specific points called.... mmm.
centromeres and there are two little objects that seem to anchor the
other end the fibers... I can see them in my mind's eye, sort of
cylinders lying at right angles to each other... ahh centrioles...)

I avoided biology in college because it seemed to be too much about
learning arcane vocabulary and that didn't seem very meaningful to
me. Later, especially because biology began to be able to explain
things at a molecular level, I found the processes (and the fact that
we could figure them out) to be fascinating, and the vocabulary was
not an obstacle. I learned the words just as we've each learned our
native language, because we need them to communicate about things
important to us. It was the same ay with all those abbreviations -
DNA, ATP, RNA, G-protein, IG-E. When you need to talk about them,
the words enter your vocabulary naturally.

I hope that you find a way to succumb to the attractions of science
without feeling uncomfortably repelled at the same time - or that
learning science is too difficult to be worth the effort. It's sad
that so few people have any understanding of how the physical or
biological world works. Our understanding is a great human
accomplishment.
********************
A: FROM MENTOR KRISTIN TAGHON IN IL
Sara,
I am glad you asked that question. There are many kinds of sciences and careers
in various sciences. Are you having most of your troubles in Biology? Does it
interest you but it's just hard for you to grasp? Is it possible that you may
like other kinds of sciences, like chemistry? Also, remember that computer
science is also a science. Though very different, it uses analytical skills
that all sciences need. And it requires understanding of a computer. If you
enjoy biology once you understand it, then having a hard time understanding it
may not be indicative of whether you should go into it or not. You may just
need to learn it in a different way. If you are just not interested in it, then
it's not a good idea to go into a career that requires knowledge of Biology.
But, it is important to know that many careers require training in Biology, but
do not actually use that knowledge at all. It maybe just a prerequisite to
going further into the Sciences, like maybe a chemistry degree. If you don't
think you're interested in Biology, would you be more interested if you could
see a practical application? Like how the knowledge of cells is important? Try
looking around on the internet. I found the following website and I think it
will help you understand cells. Let us know if it helps.
http://www.cellsalive.com/toc.htm
********************
A: FROM MENTOR LESLIE WAITE IN CA
Hi Sara!
I wouldn't worry if science is not your favorite subject. I didn't
actually get passionate about science until college, and now I have a
Ph.D. in Biochemistry! It sounds like you are immersed in biology
right now, and remember there are many different fields of science-
biology, physics, chemistry, physiology, etc., so not liking one
doesn't necessarily mean that you won't like any science. And as I
mentioned above, not liking science now doesn't mean you will never
like science.
That doesn't mean that you can't do well in science, or that you need
to give up. One thing to remember about science (and math) is that it
takes more work than other subjects, at least it did for me. With
most of my other courses, it was pretty straightforward: if I read
the textbook once and listened in class, I got it. With science and
math, it was more work. I had to read some sections of the textbook
more than once, and really think in order to do the problems. I
definitely had to go back and ask the teacher questions to clarify
things that I couldn't understand from the textbook. A lot of people
believe that this means that they are not good at science and math,
but really, this is normal.
So stick with it! And post any questions you may have about cell
parts and how they work together- there is a lot of expertise here
that can help you understand things that you can't figure out,
especially if your teacher is not explaining them effectively.

Good Luck!
Leslie