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Anissa Boyers
FILA 450 Reflective Essay
24 January 2022
Introduction
My undergraduate career at Bridgewater College is not how I imagined it would be, and I
mean that in the best way possible. As an already declared biology major, I began my freshman
year with the hope of attending medical school after graduation. This is quite typical thinking of
freshman biology majors, as there is often little knowledge on the variety of career paths one can
take. Throughout my education, my career path has shifted, as I have become more aware of
what my passions and professional goals are. I have had remarkable experiences being a biology
major on the pre-health sciences track and a neuroscience minor.
Just because my overall experience at Bridgewater College has been pleasant does not
mean that I have not faced adversity along the way. The COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult
for everyone in one way or another. For me, it led to the development of severe depression and
anxious tendencies, which hindered my ability to focus on academics and my long-term goals. I
could omit this paragraph and pretend that these circumstances did not occur, but then this
reflection would not be as authentic, so I have chosen to embrace this part of my academic
journey and tell my story. While this was not ideal, it allowed me to empathize with myself and
my others experiencing the same hardships in my community. I have since come out of this
feeling more confident in myself and my long-term aspirations.
Looking to the future, I have decided to pursue a 1-year program to become a board-
certified clinical laboratory scientist. The field of clinical laboratory sciences is a fast-paced
career that would allow me to work alongside physicians, as I would perform and analyze
diagnostic tests that are crucial to the understanding of one’s overall health. I feel that my time
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spent engaging in both the liberal arts and the natural sciences at Bridgewater College has
prepared me for this moment and I want to thank all my professors, mentors, friends, and family
for supporting me in this endeavor.
Integration, Experiential Learning, and Personalized Education Program
There are a couple reasons why I decided to major in biology. The first reason is due to
pure interest in the subject and the second reason is due to my passion for helping others.
Because I enjoyed the science classes that I had taken in high school, I anticipated that I would
feel the same way in college. My first semester, I was enrolled in predominantly general science
and math classes. While these were introductory courses, I found a desire to learn more and
became excited about the next four years.
During this time, I was also enrolled in FILA 150, titled After the Scourge: Plagues and
Pandemics. While this course eased some of the transitional difficulties between high school and
college, it also gave me the opportunity to experience science in a different realm. During this
course I was able to learn about the cultural, societal, and scientific implications of global
pandemics throughout history. While reading Plagues in World History by John Aberth, I
learned that infectious disease is inevitable, as these pathogenic microorganisms are nearly
impossible to eradicate. I was able to relate this concept to the prevalent issue of antibiotic
overuse, and infection from the Clostridium difficile bacterium in my final paper for this course
(Supporting Item #1: FILA 150 Final Paper).
During the same semester, I was also enrolled in BIOL 110, and was completing a
research project on the antibiotic resistance levels of an environmental strain of Escherichia coli.
Most of the time the sciences are stereotyped as being rigid with scientific laws, only right or
wrong answers, or no room for creative thinking. While this can be true in some sense, my FILA
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150 course allowed me to creatively apply what I learned about antibiotic resistance from a
global standpoint and use my scientific knowledge of antibiotic resistance from BIOL 110 to
better understand this topic. After taking both courses in the same semester, I felt more well-
rounded within this area of biology.
The implications from my FILA 150 class were not only important throughout my
education, but they will continue to be important, as I enter a career in clinical laboratory
sciences during the COVID-19 pandemic. My understanding of the transmissibility of viral and
bacterial based infections stemmed from my FILA 150 course and will be vital to my career. I
will also be able to utilize my knowledge of how demographics play a role in disease
vulnerability of specific populations.
Little did I know, my early interest in antibiotic resistance would lead to continued
interest in the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance and more in-depth research while taking
Microbiology with Dr. Baron during my senior year. Before taking this course, I had been
excited for it since my freshman year. As the semester approached, I already knew that I wanted
to pursue a career in clinical laboratory sciences, however, I did not realize how much
microbiology would be integrated into my future career. I quickly learned that this course was
going to be very impactful on my development as a scientist, as I spent more than 6 hours per
week in the lab. When it became time to choose a topic for our independent project, my group
members and I decided to study the Tetracycline resistance levels in Escherichia coli strains that
were collected from the North River (Supporting Item #2: BIOL 400 Independent Project
Presentation). *Note: The project diary is also available on this page, as it explains the in-depth
procedures. While this seems to be repetitive of the research project that I completed in BIOL
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110, we had a larger sample size and there was a greater focus on studying the genetic
correlation of resistance in these strains.
I would now like to discuss some the experiences I have had outside of the classroom, as
this has been a major part of my time at Bridgewater College. Mental health advocacy is a topic
that I have always been very passionate about. When signing up for clubs during my freshman
year, I found out about the Active Minds chapter on campus. This club normalizes the difficult
discussions that involve mental health struggles and focuses on suicide awareness. While being
part of this club, I have learned powerful approaches on how to validate other’s emotions and
how to direct them to the right resources. I have used this passion as a driving factor to
understand the biological basis of mental illnesses in the neuroscience courses for my minor.
Another prominent experience that I have had outside of the classroom is my
involvement on the Inter-district Youth Cabinet. This small group consists of Brethren students
from various districts that plans events for brethren youth across the country, including the on-
campus event, Roundtable. While serving on the cabinet, I have been able to collaborate with the
other members on ideas for these events, as well as interact with youth that may be potential
students at Bridgewater College. This has led to me feeling a great sense of community while
here.
Engaging Diverse Perspectives
I have always considered myself to be inclusive of others and willing to engage in
uncomfortable discussions for the betterment of society. While attending Bridgewater College,
my liberal arts education has increased my appreciation for diversity and has broken down some
of the inherent biases that I’ve held in the past. I recently began to work on these biases after
learning of the police brutality that caused the death of George Floyd and other innocent BIPOC
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individuals. I acknowledge that this issue has been occurring far before these individuals were
killed.
While taking Human Diversity with Dr. Khurgel during my junior year, I learned about
the biological basis of human diversity, and the systemic roots of oppressive beliefs in several
categories, including race, sex, economic class, genetic predisposition, etc. One of the major
misconceptions that this class discredited was the usage of the term “race.” I put this term in
quotation marks, as we learned that “race” is a social construct, and not a biological one. In fact,
there are only four official “races” that are recognized in the United States, and these “races” are
too broad to include a large amount of the population. In this course, I also learned about the
genetic implications of human diversity in continuous and discontinuous traits. I was able to
show my knowledge on this during a hands-on activity in my final (Supporting Item #3: BIOL
215 Final Exam Part 2).
This course overall has made me more aware of the biases that I exhibit as a “white”
woman. While I learned about the inaccuracy of terms such as “white” and “black,” I am still
including this terminology, as leaving it out dismisses the privilege that “white” individuals
have.
As a future clinical laboratory scientist that will be performing diagnostic tests on a
diverse range of individuals, it is important for me to be aware of the racist, sexist, ableist,
classist, and eugenic misconceptions that are embedded in the medical field. An example of this
is found in the Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR), which is a blood test that is part of
a basic metabolic panel and detects kidney function.
Public Discourse: Citizenship and Community Responsibility
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As a Christian, and a member of the Church of the Brethren, one of the qualities that
drew me to attending Bridgewater College was the historical affiliation with the church. Here, I
have had many opportunities to interact, worship, and form friendships with other brethren
students. When choosing a course to fulfill the philosophy and religion requirement, I wanted a
meaningful experience in which I could learn more about my own faith, as well as hear different
perspectives. This led me to take Christian Theology with Dr. Scheppard during my junior year.
The format of this Christian Theology course gave me a historical background of the
Christian church, which was important to understanding how the development of the church
occurred. The course also introduced public discourse through the presentation of various sides
of theological debates. One of the debates that I led discussed Christ’s presence in the Eucharist
(Supporting Item #4: Case 3.3 Essay). Before I prepared for this debate, I had partaken in
communion at my church and had assumed it was practiced the same way universally. After this
debate, I became aware of the different interpretations of the Eucharist that Catholics and other
branches of Protestants have. I found these interpretations to be interesting, as the difference
between the Catholic Eucharist and my church’s communion service is a literal sense versus a
metaphorical sense. Throughout the semester, I learned more about the differences between the
different branches of Christianity and doctrine that led to their separation from each other.
The academic content and experiences of debate in this course gave me the tools to
critically analyze Christian doctrine that I may not be familiar with. As a biology major that
analyzes scientific journal articles daily, this course has improved my ability to recognize theses
and understand the main arguments in a case. This course has also enhanced my faith, as it
explained the importance of the holy trinity in relation to salvation.
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Global Citizenship and Intercultural Competencies
Ethical Reasoning
While attending Bridgewater College, I have had the chance to develop my own morals
and beliefs. I am confident that the liberal arts courses I have taken have changed some of my
beliefs I have directly engaged with ethics in my science courses and while performing
experiments in the lab.
During my junior year, I had the opportunity to take Neuroethics with Dr. Bradley. This
course was a requirement for my minor, but it also provided content on a wide range of ethical
topics in neuroscience. During this course, I engaged in discussions on various scenarios (usually
from science fiction movies) that would be considered ethically questionable. Some of these
topics included, performance enhancing drugs, genetic modification, artificial intelligence, free
will, cloning, etc. One of the topics that I found interesting was the ethics of using performance
enhancing drugs. While I had a background understanding of neurocognitive drugs from taking
Psychopharmacology, this was mostly drug mechanisms within the body and not really about the
controversies of usage. The movie that was analyzed during this discussion was Limitless. In the
beginning of this movie, Eddie, the main character, has a troubled life, as he struggles to perform
basic adult tasks. He is given a powerful drug that alters his cognition and allows him to exceed
life’s expectations. After thorough discussion, I was able to relate the principles from this movie
to the issue of the unregulated use of stimulant mediations in college students (Supporting Item
#6: Neuroethics Assignment #2).
One of my biggest takeaways from Neuroethics has been “just because you can, does not
mean that you should.” While science and technology have become precisely advanced to the
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ability of genetic and mind alteration, this does not mean that the long-term effects are worth it.
The knowledge and implications of ethics in neuroscience can be used in any research setting.
Ethics of any sort, especially the topics that were discussed in Neuroethics, will be
important in my career as a clinical laboratory scientist, as I will be required to practice the
guidelines of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). I will also be
required to report lab results as is, without any preconceived biases.
Conclusion
It has been interesting to reflect on my time here at Bridgewater College. I have had a
chance to develop my own views and learn about topics that otherwise would not have learned
about.
