Meet Karierah! She is a senior at Ohio State studying biology with the intention to become a doctor. She has been a volunteer with WOW since 2024! Karierah describes her experience with discovering her interest in biology as something she knew from a young age. Below she describes why she chose her major and how she knew it was the right path for her career aspirations:

Ever since I was young, science has always had a place in my heart. I was fascinated by the researchers’ discoveries, and I rarely saw my science homework as something tedious; it was interesting. As a young student and even looking back to my middle school years, I didn’t know what kind of science I truly loved and wanted to pursue. But as I grew, my love and desire to know which science to pursue grew as well. In my sophomore year of high school, I took “biology.” As the days went by and as the teacher continued to teach, I felt a similar feeling as when I first learned about science in elementary school; I was extremely fascinated! I had loved examining the basic unit of life, a cell, and learning about how lysosomes, ribosomes, the nucleus, mitochondria, and so much more work together to make plants, animals, and the body function. I enjoyed learning about cell production, cell death, and how things work at a cellular level. I was intrigued while learning about how certain cells, present and absent, affected the body’s well-being and homeostasis. And, ultimately, I truly had a desire and a yearning to learn more daily. My whole life, I always liked causality concepts and, after looking back, I recognize that my younger self always had an interest in things dealing with living organisms. I decided to continue with Biology in my college career as I believe it will help to lay a foundation in my pursuance of being a doctor that observes the effects brain trauma has on one’s behavior, cognition, and overall psychological disposition. I wish to work in therapeutics to help those navigate and re-adjust to life, post-injury. 

What is your favorite part of WOW?

There have been countless great memories at WOW, however, my favorite part of WOW is being able to take part in helping introduce children to science topics that they one day may decide to pursue in their future. Something is just so inspiring and rewarding about the possibility that the work I am doing right now in WOW may become a core memory and reason as to why someone chooses to pursue science. 

What advice would you offer to future students in your major?

A piece of advice that I give to future students in my major is to know that difficulty in a subject does not invalidate your passion, nor does it equate to you not belonging in such a field. Being a biology major is very difficult, can be stressful, and will teach you a lot. Despite these trialing times, do not look to the left or to the right but keep looking forward, knowing that you will prevail at a pace best for you.  I always like to refer to the process often seen in research; some experiments take more trials to run than others, but that does not invalid its success when it happens. Likewise, the trials you endure now may seem like a lot, but remain consistent, versatile, and look towards the success that will come! Do not give up on your passion and know that, in-due time, all will work out!