Carly Hubbard
Written by Cody Sommer
Carly Hubbard, currently finishing her junior year, transferred to Hillsdale from a large state school to study biology. She said there were several reasons that the choice to come to Hillsdale was right for her. Her elder sisters attended Hillsdale, and after a semester elsewhere, she realized that she wanted to be a part of the conversations that her sisters had experienced.
When she transferred to Hillsdale, she became enamored of the way biology is taught here. As Carly pointed out, “The Biology Department is a hidden gem of Hillsdale, quietly turning out more majors than any other department.” She added, “Studying biology at the same time as the core has allowed me see the beauty in particularities.” For Carly, this is a symbiotic understanding; work in the lab helps her analyze literature better, while studying the details of history helps her appreciate the inner workings of a cell.
Carly has also enjoyed the hands-on nature of biology at Hillsdale. She explained, “Every biology major does a senior thesis. I have been able to work one-on-one with professors on important and interesting research.” One of the best things about Hillsdale, Carly believes, is the ability to keep from specializing in a research field until you find something you are truly interested in. For example, she told me that she has become fascinated with the workings of enzymes and their ability to go through thousands of reactions per second with an efficiency rate that machinery has not been able to match.
Carly will be taking the MCAT this summer, and she hopes to either attend medical school or attend graduate school in Neuroscience. She left me with this final thought: “Biology reveals something fundamental in the natural world, but it can only explain how something works, not why it works. To understand this why, one must study natural philosophy in the context of the other academic disciplines – and that is the kind of education you get at Hillsdale.”
Cody Sommer will graduate this spring with a degree in Mathematics and minors in English and Economics. Cody is a member of the Honors Program, participates in the Kappa Mu Epsilon Math Honorary, organizes the Orthodox Christian Fellowship, and enjoys playing Swedish folk music.