Academic life at Yale University
Academic life at Yale University
I am Lazaros Efthymiou and I am a sophomore student at Yale University. I am from Nicosia, the capital city of Cyprus. My major is Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB BS) and I’m also a pre-med student, aspiring to be a physician. I became a mentor for Project Access in 2019 and in early 2020 I became the Head of Community for the Project Access mentor campus team at Yale.
In high-school, I explored my academic interests. Starting high-school, and being influenced to a certain degree by the path my older sister had followed, I took English Literature, Economics, Accounting, and History as my electives. This may seem surprising because all these classes are not really related to my major at college. I actually enjoyed all of them and I felt that the material was very interesting. However, I could not see myself majoring in something similar in the future, and since I always had some regrets for not choosing any science classes, I switched History and English Literature with Biology and Chemistry. I really loved these new additions and became so passionate about them, which led to me majoring in Biology. While applying to college, I was looking for a place that would provide me with this same freedom when choosing my classes, so that even though I would be majoring in the sciences, I would still be able to immerse myself into all the other different fields. Yale was the perfect solution to this.
Yale University has the so-called “distributional requirements” which are 12 classes that every student has to take that will allow them to explore all different areas and acquire various useful skills, helping each student develop and transform into a well-rounded individual. Students have to take classes in the areas of the sciences, social sciences and humanities, as well as classes that will enable them to obtain the skills of quantitative reasoning, writing and foreign language. Therefore, aside from the classes that are required for my major I have taken two history classes allowing me to further enhance my knowledge of the ancient world, learning about Alexander the Great and the Greeks, as well as, the Ancient Egyptian Gods and Pharaohs. I also had the chance to take a Bioethics class, which is one of my favorite classes I have taken so far, and it is especially relevant and helpful for me as an aspiring physician. For the foreign language requirement, I took isiZulu, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa. It was the most engaging class that I have ever taken, also allowing me to really get to know a new culture vastly different from mine. I definitely enjoy the excess freedom that Yale allows us to have when choosing from its 2000-plus classes and the significant impact that it had on me, by shaping my personality tremendously.
The Biology department is one of the strongest and most competitive in the country, which is one of the reasons why MCDB is one of the most popular yet intensive majors at Yale. Taking a dive into the structure of my major it is a very interesting and detailed course that touches upon almost all major aspects of Biology; Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental. What I really like about it, is that the prerequisites, that you have to take even before starting the actual electives for the major, cover some part of all three sciences, therefore, except from the Biology Sequence, students also have to take General Chemistry, Physics, Organic Chemistry, Maths, and their respective laboratories. At the start of their junior year, students begin the requirements for the major for which they have a lot of choices to choose from and they can, therefore, specialize in any aspect of Biology they like the most. MCDB (Bachelor of Science) is definitely one of the most challenging majors at Yale, as most majors average 12 required credits, whereas MCDB (BS) requires students to take at least 18.5 credits. Nevertheless, I find it so fascinating that I enjoy doing the work for it, and besides, all Yale students work very hard which is very motivating for me. Lastly, through my major, I will be able to complete all the pre-med requirements that will prepare me for Medical School, without the need of squeezing extra classes in my academic career.
Going into my first year of college I felt somewhat overwhelmed by the “weight” of Yale’s name. I thought that students would be extremely competitive, and would try to outsmart you in any possible way. However, from the very start I realized that everyone was so helpful, caring, understanding, and inclusive, yet unbelievably bright and multitalented. The competition that exists around campus is up to a healthy level, where it motivates you to work harder and be the best version of yourself. One of my favorite aspects of Yale is the everyday encounters with the people on campus; students, professors or any other faculty member. Everyone is so intelligent and has an interesting personality which reflects on how they interact with each other, making even a short lunch at the dining-hall a productive time where you can learn something new, or start looking at a particular matter from another point of view!
This is what makes Yale a special place to be: aside from its exceptional academics, all students have invested in their inner self and personalities and are hungry to learn as much as possible in all different areas of life. This is also my advice to all high-school students. Don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone and chase the things you really love! It is never “too late” to make changes if you are really passionate about something, like I did with Chemistry and Biology in high-school. Work hard and stay on top of your academics, however, do get involved in extracurricular activities that you feel can help you grow as a person.