>> [background music] I didn't always know
that I wanted to study biology honestly.
First year was general sciences, and I
enjoyed biology the most in high school,
so I thought that would be a good fit for me.
During my time at Queen's,
I've been lucky enough
to not just be in the classroom all the time.
Last semester, I actually had the opportunity
to go on a field trip to study at QUBS,
which is the Queen's University
Biological Station.
>> I pretty much knew I always
wanted to go into geology.
I would, when I was thinking what I wanted to
do, it was kind of between geo or some sort
of other like meteorology, something like that.
And I've just, I've loved since I was little.
When I chose to come into the Queen's
community as a transfer student,
I did not find it difficult at all.
Other experiences that I've had at Queen's
that will help me get to where I want
to be is the chance to participate
in a ton of different clubs.
>> A specialization is a lot like a major,
but with a lot more required courses,
so you can really go in depth
with what you want to study.
Within biology there's a lot
of diversity that you can take,
so I feel like I'm still
getting a broad range of courses,
even though my primary focus is in biology.
Outside of biology my biggest extracurricular
has been the Queen's Equestrian Club.
So, I'm the president of the recreational team.
So I organize lessons and
events for our members.
And it's a great way to get involved with the
community because no experience is required.
>> I've had the opportunity to do
an honours undergraduate thesis.
The course code is called
Biology 537, but what it is,
it's your own undergraduate research project.
So it's kind of like a mini master's project
and you become very close with a professor.
You end up making lasting
connections with the faculty
and you do research that
has never been done before.
>> I was looking at my first-year self, wow,
I would probably tell that first-year self,
to go and get involved in everything
that you can in your undergrad.
>> Take courses that you're interested in.
>> Love yourself, first of all.
>> Take passion that you have and
go and get involved from the get go.
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