This is dedicated to all the students who are either dual-degreeing, double majoring, minoring, or certifying in Spanish in addition to their primary STEM major. As a biochemistry and Spanish dual-degree student, I seeked to find the intersection between these two fields and I’d like to share more about my perspective in this existing overlap.
Continue readingAs a freshman, I was subjected to endless icebreaker games and introductions with each new class, club meeting, etc., as all freshmen are, but I always felt a bit lost on how to define myself academically. Meeting with advisors and introducing myself to professors, I was always overly aware of the raised eyebrows and slight pauses when I mentioned that I was a pre-med student with a humanities major.
Continue readingHello! I am a student double majoring in Biochemistry and Spanish. I am also planning on getting the Spanish and Health Certificate offered at UMass. My spanish major relates greatly to my biochemistry major because it allows me to formulate my thoughts through different lenses. Many times in the biochemistry core classes students only focus on memorizing and analyzing material in a more factual way. My Spanish major has allowed me to take classes where we discuss humanitarian problems occurring not just in medical settings, but all over the globe. I truly believe taking Spanish classes have allowed me to mentality relax during the semester and not stress too much over my science courses. I do believe studying is important but my Spanish class discussion reminds me that there are far more important things than just your studies to worry about. My Spanish class discussion reminds me there is work to be done, not until I graduate from college or medical school, but change that can be worked for currently. I truly believe my Spanish and biochemistry majors complement each other. Taking classes in the liberal arts and science college is such an amazing curriculum to follow. The Spanish classes allow me to stay true to my roots by reminding me of the beauty in my latinidad and learning to embrace it, even as it shows up in my science careers. Being aware of one’s identity is super important as it allows youth to acknowledge what position you are in and how to manipulate this in a beneficial way for others. Helping others looks differently, but the reason and passion to help should always come from selfless motives.
Continue readingAs a freshman entering UMass, the only goal I had in mind was to get good grades in order to go to medical school. I joined a living learning community called BIOTAP where I was able to take smaller science courses to strengthen my skills in lab and create closer relationships with my floormates and professors. This experience allowed me to get some premed courses out of the way, but I was still at a loss for what I wanted to major in. I soon began to miss my Brazilian culture that was a very big part of my high school experience and decided to take a Portuguese course to have more variety in my schedule and learn how to write formally in Portuguese. After that course I decided that studying a language along with my science courses would be an important way in order to continue enjoying my challenging courses and engage with Latin culture.
Continue readingAlmost every time I tell people that I am a double major in applied mathematics and Spanish, I am met with surprise. Most remark on how math and Spanish are two very different fields and ask me why I chose them. While my first response is always that I simply enjoy learning both of these courses of study, I have found that these two majors may come to complement each other well in the career I hope to get in the future.
Continue readingOne of the first things that you learn as a pre-health student in university is that you can major in whatever you want, as long as you complete the pre-requisites for graduate schools. While this is 100% accurate, a lot of students do not take advantage of this because it can be difficult to manage the pre-requisite STEM courses while also balancing the requirements of a completely unrelated major.
However, difficult ? impossible. I am a senior pre-dental student at Umass, where I am finishing dual degrees in biology and Spanish, a minor in Portuguese, and the Spanish & Health Certificate. I have learned a lot along the way, and want to share my experience with other pre-health students who are considering majoring in Spanish, or any other non-STEM major.
Continue readingAs a senior in high school, I was extremely conflicted in where I wanted to pursue a higher education. Even on the deposit deadline, I still had absolutely no idea where I wanted to go. I committed to UMass simply because it was the cheapest option, and my logic was that if I wasn’t 100% sold on any of my other options, I might as well go to the one that I could afford. Now, as a college senior, I look back and am so grateful that I chose this school. In this blog post, I am going to cover the top 5 reasons (in no particular order) that I feel why a large school like Umass provides the absolute best education.
Continue readingWhile choosing an array of diverse classes unrelated to your major inspires growth and intellectual stimulation, it can be even more satisfying for some people to channel that extra time into a second major, as this allows for a deeper dive into the subject matter. I am a senior completing my last semester at UMass, where I’ve been pursuing a dual degree in Spanish and Statistics for the last four years.
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