I came to my major through a long route of thought and interest. In middle school, I read a book about philosophy that discussed the relationship between the brain and the mind. Oddly enough to me, the book discussed the mind and the brain as two different things, one immaterial and the other material, and provided several arguments as to why this is the case.
After reading said book, I became engrossed in the branch of philosophy called “Philosophy of Mind,” which seeks to answer philosophical questions about the mind. One of them is whether or not the mind is identical with the brain, the same discussion as the book above, and the highest point of academic interest for me.
Once I took Human Anatomy and Physiology in high school, I learned about the complexity and amazing capacity of the human brain. The complexity fascinated me and made me wonder whether or not one could determine if the brain is identical with the mind by studying the brain itself. Thus, I chose my major to be Neuroscience (while minoring in philosophy) in order to answer this question for myself, while also having the goal of working in research in neuroscience while being a philosophy professor.
There have been many obstacles I’ve had to overcome just in my first year of college. I was never a great writer, but through much work and spending a lot of time in the Writing Center at my university I have significantly improved my writing skills, and even obtained and ‘A’ in my first year writing course.
Likewise, I have had to improve my people skills. This was difficult for me since I was home schooled most of my college career. My first semester of college, however, I joined the Philosophy Club at IUPUI and began to make many good friends here. Likewise, I even began to network and talk with employers and got a job as a graphic designer working for the community foundation of my home county (Washington County).
Overcoming these obstacles and the others that will come my way means a great deal to me. I will be one of the few members of my family to achieve a bachelor’s degree, and the absolute first member of my family to earn a degree in science. Obtaining my degree will also help me to find the answers I desire on my search of the truth of the matter about the brain and the mind. As is most important for any given person or major, however, graduating with this degree will help me become a fully functional and important part of the society in which we live.
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