BIOB34 Podcast #3

Salva Mimon, a student from the University of Toronto, shares her journey of pursuing an undergraduate degree in biological sciences. Her interest in science began in elementary school and grew through high school, where she focused on subjects like genetics and chemistry. She found inspiration in Rosalind Franklin, a chemist who faced challenges and discrimination in her career. Salva chose the University of Toronto because of its strong research program and the opportunity to study topics she was passionate about. She believes there is still much more to come in her studies and career. Hello and welcome back to Science Talk. Today we will discuss how biological sciences are crucial in life, but more importantly, why people enjoy and pursue the field. After all, we wouldn't be a science podcast if we didn't discuss the value and love of science. Today we have a special guest, Salvo Mimon, a student from the University of Toronto, here to talk about why she pursued an undergraduate in biological sciences. Hello, thank you for having me today. It's a pleasure to be here. Of course! Salvo, can you actually describe why you chose this field and the factors that led to your decision? Gosh, this takes me all the way back to elementary school, when I was listening to my grade four teacher talk about Isaac Newton. I know it's a cliché, but this is where my fascination and curiosity began. Very interesting! Tell me more. When I was younger, science was my favourite subject. The topics I learned helped me grow my love for science. I was excited to learn more about the many discoveries and scientists that contributed to them and the various ways science has impacted our life. Wow, that's fascinating! And what sort of research did you explore and what did you end up finding? Well, it started when I would watch documentaries in my free time. And I did this almost all throughout primary school, and when I got into high school, the documentaries I watched often related back to the world of science, and this led to me finding various science-related podcasts on platforms such as Spotify, similar to this one, actually. This is when I realized I wanted to study biological sciences, which is basically the study of life, living organisms, and much more. Wow, I love that! So, why do you think your interest for science grew more, and what sort of documentaries did you find yourself more drawn to? Well, specifically in high school, my course load was mostly the sciences, due to my interest in them, obviously. Being able to study them more in depth compared to before allowed me to narrow down my liking. Some of the subjects I loved were genetics, evolution, inorganic and organic chemistry. My findings was now solely based on the subject I liked, which led me to find my role model and inspiration. Very cool! And who was your inspiration? Her name is Rosalind Franklin. She was a chemist from London. I connected with her in a way because I knew she wanted to go into science at a young age, just like me. She wanted to be a scientist, or more specifically, a researcher. She was a well-known perfectionist and faced many challenges during her time. Her success and story are what made me realize I wanted to go down the path of becoming a researcher. This career choice just felt like it was made for me, and especially during high school, it gave me a purpose in life. She was accepted into the University of Cambridge to study natural sciences, and this made me realize I wanted to find a university program that suited me to jumpstart my potential career as a researcher as well. Very interesting! And may I ask what sort of challenges did Rosalind face? Well, during the 1900s, she faced many hardships from society and males especially, since many people believed that women were not fit to have an education. It was so bad that she had to fight with her father to go to university. In the end, he didn't even pay for her tuition, even though they came from a well-known wealthy family. This only made her stronger and fight for her rights to pursue something. Another challenge she faced was not receiving any credit for the work she had done. She did a lot of insanely challenging research, and her biggest struggle was not getting credit for the research she provided on the structure of DNA. Some people even believe that the men credited for the discovery of the structure of DNA might have stolen Rosalind Franklin's research. Wow, that's very unfair! I agree, and in 1962, she was even denied the Nobel Prize for discovering the structure of DNA. Overall though, she's a powerful woman of her time who made great progress in the field of genetics, and she made me believe anything was possible and that you should never give up studying something you love. Wow, she is such an inspiration. Thank you for giving us some insight on her work. So, going back to what you said previously, how were you able to find a program that was well suited to you? Science empowered me as a person, and I wanted to expand my knowledge, so I looked into programs that specialized specifically in topics that interested me as a person. So, at a university fair I attended in grade 11, I learned about the various biological science programs. I already knew I enjoyed the study of DNA and enjoyed chemistry specifically due to Rosalind Franklin's studies. Now, the tough part was finding a university program that would help me achieve all this and that would allow me to enjoy my time there. Okay, and how did you end up choosing the University of Toronto? Well, UT caught my attention immediately, mainly because of the people who represented the school. They were extremely kind and guided me through the program, and luckily they told me that biological sciences was available at the Scarborough campus. I was also informed of the many research opportunities U of T provided, since a lot of the professors are known for producing groundbreaking research. When I did look into the program, I also found out that U of T was the number one school for research as well, and that's when I realized the school was for me, and I was drawn to it even more. Thankfully, all of my hard work in high school paid off and I got accepted into the program. The school has given me access to a wide range of biological knowledge at all levels. Wow, Salva, you had quite a journey leading up to where you are today. I love how you made it your end goal of finding a school that you love. Thank you. I definitely don't feel like this is the end for me, and there is so much in store for the rest of my studies and my career. Definitely. Thank you for being our guest today, and it was lovely speaking with you.