Health Science Reviews

By Abi Milella
This reflective writing piece is supposed to be on my experience in honours so far and while I will get to that, I feel it’s only right for me to explain how I got here with the hopes of offering comfort to those who still have no idea where they’re going.

It’s 2021 and university applications are due in a week and I have 0 idea of what I want to do. The Covid-19 pandemic showed me that I definitely did not want to be a doctor and now I was stuck, I’d been so sure that I wanted to follow in my moms footsteps that I hadn’t even considered a back up plan… A bachelor of Science seemed to be the most logical pivot from doctor to unknown and all that was left to do was choose my majors. I immediately found Human Anatomy and Physiology (HUB) and clicked “yes” and then had one last decision to make – major number 2. At this point the decision fatigue hit hard and I was far less enthusiastic about the whole application process and just wanted it to be over and done with so when my eyes skimmed over the major options again, they landed on the major with the acronym “GEN” which in my exhausted state, was interpreted as “general” and I figured “sure, that’s probably ideal for someone who’s not too sure about what they want to do.” right? Fast forward through my acceptance and campus tour to my first meeting with a student advisor who informed me that I had in fact signed up for genetics with a knock-on effect of changing HUB to Biochemistry as it was more synchronous with the Genetics content which had suddenly piqued my interest. I am forever grateful for that Student Advisor (whose name I cannot remember…) because it was the Biochemistry syllabus in second semester of my final year of my undergrad that showed me where I wanted to go (after 2 and a half years of not knowing and experiencing an increasing number of freak outs). Luckily for me this coincided with honours application deadlines and after falling in love with immunology, the MedSci Hons Infectious Diseases and Immunology was my one and only choice! The waiting and wondering period was possibly one of the most uncomfortable periods of my life and I caught myself regretting getting my hopes up, kicking myself for not investigating other routes better until I received my acceptance and I was absolutely elated!

Although I had no idea what an honours year could look like, there was nothing that could bring me down from my cloud 9. The honours students of 2024 put in a good effort though… from day 1, all I heard was “congratulations, this is so exciting, this is going to be the worst year of your life”… not exactly comforting words to be hearing at the start of an unknown journey. But I figured, whatever, they’re probably trying to scare us straight and I made it about half way through the first semester before I started to see how right they were. Deadline after deadline, 3 hour long lectures, project selection and ethics applications, field trips, exams covering 600 slides…. It all felt like it was too much to handle and to be honest it was but you learn quickly that honours will show you how resilient you are and how much you can handle. To future MedSci honours students – this year will suck but you will prevail, I promise!

Moving into the second semester, I am incredibly excited! No more lectures or exams and an exciting project ahead! My project selection process mimicked that of every other important choice that I have already mentioned – I rushed ahead and tunneled vision without stopping to consider the other options. I was swayed by a 2024 honours/2025 Msc student who whispered sweet nothings to me about the project running in her lab and I latched onto it and wished for it to be mine with all my heart.

The night before project selections were due, I sat on my computer and considered how sure I was that this project was the “one”. Earlier that day, another masters student had painted a far more real picture of what that project would look like and I realised that it was not what i was interested in and so I sat until 2am watching the videos that each supervisor had made with such care (for the first time) and made a complete 180 on my project selection choice. I was awarded my first choice and as I sit in my lab office, I couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come, not only for the rest of the year but for the next chapter of my life. I have discovered a newfound interest, the human gut microbiome, and am extremely privileged to be working under experts in the field who feed my fascination daily!

If there’s one thing this rollercoaster of a journey has taught me, it’s that things really do have a way of working out, even if the path looks nothing like what you expected. From clicking on “GEN” by mistake to late-night decision-making and second guesses, every twist led me exactly where I needed to be. Honours has challenged me in ways I never imagined, but it’s also shown me the power of resilience, the importance of trusting my gut (pun intended), and the value of keeping an open mind. So to anyone who feels lost or uncertain, know that it’s okay not to have it all figured out. Just take the next step, stay curious, and believe in your ability to adapt. Sometimes, the best decisions are the ones you never meant to make.