"What freshman doesn’t think that she can do anything and everything?"

To be honest, I have a hard time remembering the specifics of the whirlwind that was freshman year: I have vague recollections of excitement, happiness, insecurity, and confusion. But the one thing I do remember is that by October, the once-majestic Sanders Theater was merely a Life Sci lecture hall seating a sea of freshmen and problem sets were already the bane of my existence. I remember my frustration with feeling that I had an obligation to prioritize my science classes over all else even though I found that reading for my Hebrew Bible class was the only schoolwork I really enjoyed doing. So despite my parents’ fears that I was abandoning my plans to become a doctor to instead become a priest or to join a cult, I reassured them that I could concentrate in the comparative study of religion while being pre-med. After all, what freshman doesn’t think that she can do anything and everything?

While trying to survive on a few hours of sleep and over-committing myself to various extracurricular activities proved to be unsustainable, it turned out that if anything, being a non-science pre-med was possible. Of course, I was fortunate enough to decide this rather early on in my Harvard career, as planning a four-year schedule that fulfilled all requirements for my concentration, secondary (in chemistry), med school, and cores was crucial in making it all happen. It would have been nice to have more room for electives, but I was already taking so many classes that I absolutely loved that I did not mind. Being a religion concentrator was rewarding in so many ways—the contrasting workload for my religion classes and science classes kept me from getting too bored of either, I loved the attention I received from the faculty, and the small department provided a close community as I developed relationships with the seven other religion concentrators of my year.

Most importantly, it constantly challenged my plans and desire to pursue medicine. Being passionate about another field of study made me question if medicine was really for me. Though doubt and uncertainty are not the most comfortable of feelings, I’m glad I experienced them. It pushed me to give myself some flexibility to consider other career paths and the possibility of study abroad. After some exploration in the food industry and an amazing semester abroad in Israel, when I came back to the pre-med track, I did so with conviction. It was only when I allowed myself to fully pursue my other academic interests but found myself a pre-med once again that I felt like I had made an active decision.

I want to encourage all students considering the pre-med track to feel empowered to and give themselves the opportunity to explore other interests without guilt. If anyone has the privilege of taking risks and stretching limits of comfort zones, it should be Harvard students.

—Paula Bu, '12