Farzana Zahir, a senior pre-med biology major at West Texas A&M University. Zahir plans to go to medical school, a journey that requires a lot of preparation.

In addition to studying, Zahir is also an active member of the WT community. She is a part of the Beta Beta Beta (TriBeta) biological honor society, an employee at the University IT Service Helpdesk, an office assistant at the Math Lab and president of Enactus, an entrepreneurial group. In addition, she is working as a teaching assistant for Human Anatomy and Physiology II.

“I feel like my on-campus jobs have helped me to grow a lot as a person,” Zahir said.

Zahir also spent two months over the summer working in an epidemiology lab in Bangladesh as part of an internship. Zahir was able to participate in this summer internship thanks to funding from the President’s Earn & Learn Scholarship Program. During the internship, she was able to apply what she had learned in class, as epidemiology labs focus on the frequency and distribution of diseases.

“With biology and science, you learn more while you actually do the work,” Zahir said. “You see it all making sense,” Zahir said.

Zahir’s professors and advisors have helped her to be successful by giving her a strong support system throughout her degree.

“[Our advisors] are telling us what we need to do to apply to med school and they will help [us] to look for resources,” Zahir said. “The professors and advisors are the ones who make the program [what it is].”

Zahir was also offered the Dr. Thomas S. & Helen Gerald Scholarship. This scholarship is offered to students who can maintain a GPA of at least 3.0 and are full-time junior or senior students, with a preference for students majoring in pre-medicine or pre-dental.

If you are interested in obtaining a biology degree at WT, visit the university website for more information. If you are a current biology major and would like extra support, WT offers a tutoring assistance program, as well as the Math Lab.