Microbiology Personal Statement

I am interested in applying for the Master’s degree program in Microbiology starting in Fall 2017. I graduated from Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD in May 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology and a supporting minor in Chemistry.

As an undergraduate, I took a Microbiology class which piqued my interest in microorganisms. The study of microbes is a territory which is relatively uncharted due to the huge diversity, the scale on which they operate, their size and their different adaptations that enable them to live and thrive in the harshest of conditions. I was also fascinated by their ability to develop new and better pathways that allow them to avoid detection. An example of which is the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or in

I thought being a pharmacist would give me the opportunity at what I hoped to achieve, to offer patients answers to their questions about their diseases which they know very little about firsthand. But working in a pharmacy for two and a half years, I realized with every passing moment that as a pharmacist, I would only get the chance to pass on the knowledge which is already known and not exactly offer any new information. I wanted more, and even though I did not have an idea what exactly ‘more’ entailed, I signed up for Microbiology, a class I came to love because of its numerous real life applications such as industrial fermentation, drug discovery in the case antibiotic production and even creating vehicles for cloning in more complex organisms like plants. I especially liked the assignment where we had to run tests in order to identify an unknown bacterium. It was not so much about the correct identification of the unknown as it was knowing what the next tests to run were, based on the outcome of the previous tests. The class offered novel ways of thinking in order to figure out which characteristics of the bacterium caused it to behave the way it did. In that year, I also took Pharmacology, which gave a little depth to ways drugs could be altered to affect bacteria or viruses that have mutated into drug-resistant strains,

One which puts mosts restaurants, cafes and stores within walking distance of the campus or a few miles from campus, allowing convenience for students. The flexible schedule of classes held at least once a week and at late afternoons or early evenings, allows students to gain experience through work and internships and still make time for classes and other school responsibilities. The quality of education earned from a school like Thomas Jefferson University which offers a Professional Science Master’s degree will put me ahead of many of my colleagues where employers are concerned. This degree will also make me well rounded as a student and also as a person. The PSM degree offers two degrees for the price of one which will make me a valuable addition to any company, an opportunity many other graduate studies do not