Faith Roser is a graduating senior who majored in biological sciences. Faith hails from York County and has interests including but not limited to animals, literature and vanilla ice cream. In the fall she will be attending the University of Pennsylvania’s veterinary school.
The Triangle: What was your favorite class during your time here?
Faith Roser: My favorite bio class was this random freshman class that’s physiology and ecology smashed together, but they’re two different things. It’s a lot of fun and I think I like it because everyone who’s a pre-med hates it and I really like getting interested in the things that are different than what everyone else likes.
TT: What was your least favorite class?
FR: BIO 219. It’s the molecular biology lab. It’s just a lot of work and not a lot of credits, and not something I understand well.
TT: Do you have a favorite college memory?
FR: The entire time I was studying abroad on Bioco Island. It’s in Equatorial Guinea off the west coast of Africa.
TT: What did you study there?
FR: I studied environmental science, sort of like field research based, but it’s a whole quarter with 20 credits worth of classes. It was just really cool. It was the first time I had ever left the country, and it sounded like the best combination of my favorite biology things and a fun place to spend the quarter.
TT: Is there any particular favorite memory you have from that experience?
FR: We were there during Independence Day in Equatorial Guinea, and there was this parade, but there’s a really heavy military presence, and it was really scary. So, we were with all of these people who were there for oil companies, and different UN organizations and things, and one of them was guiding us around, like, trying to keep us from doing things that would get us arrested. He just kind of looked at all of us and he was like “Okay, the guy with the machine gun is angry. Back away, go away, go away.” That will always stick in my mind. That was a good life lesson. A couple credits worth of lessons right there.
TT: Do you have a favorite place to go on Drexel’s campus or in the city?
FR: I love this little coffee shop on Sansom Street right off 34th Street. It’s called Avril 50. It’s not even like the coffee is that good — there’s hardly any place to sit — but it’s really cool because they have all the international magazines and literary magazines you could possibly want.
TT: How do you feel you’ve contributed to Drexel as a university?
FR: I think I’ve just tried to get involved in as many different things as possible, not necessarily organizations, but like different academic programs. I have an English minor and a medical humanities certificate, which is just a few credits less than a minor. So, I go from one to the other and say, “‘[As] a biology student, here’s what I can contribute to an English class, and as someone who reads and writes a lot, here’s what I can contribute to a biology discussion.” It’s kind of fun to do that. I find it interesting to bring bits and pieces of different programs together because supposedly that’s what we’re all about, but I don’t think a lot of people take advantage of that.
TT: How many co-ops have you done? Where were they?
FR: I did three. Two of my coops were at my vet’s office at home, like the people that I’ve known since I was a little, tiny kid and who took care of all my animals, and those were great. And one was at Penn Vet Working Dog Center, which was super cool — they train scent detection dogs, so dogs with any job that uses their nose — bomb detection, narcotics, and search and rescue and stuff. That was cool.
TT: How did you decide you wanted to be a veterinarian?
FR: I think I always had this idea that I didn’t like people when I was a little kid, so I was like, “Yeah, science is awesome, I wanna be a forensic scientist so I don’t have to deal with people and I can still solve really cool problems.” It’s like a logic puzzle for a job. But somewhere along the way I decided that I liked people too, but somehow that also drew me to “I really like animal people, so I’m just gonna be a veterinarian.” As a vet, I can do science, I can talk to people and play with animals.
TT: What is the biggest mistake that you feel you’ve made during your time in college, or the biggest regret that you have?
FR: You know it’s funny, when you asked me the other day if I was involved in any clubs, and I realized, “Oh my gosh, I’m not, this is crazy! Why have I not done this?” I think part of it is “Oh man, I don’t want to go to a meeting at 8 o’clock, I’m tired.” But we’re all so busy that that’s the only time anyone can meet. So that’s a really stupid reason to have avoided organizations for five years. Yeah, I wish I had joined organizations, because I don’t feel like I know a lot of people based on common interest, just based on the programs we’re in together, which isn’t always the same kind of a thing.
TT: What is the advice you would give to yourself coming into college, or any student that’s just coming in?
FR: I think that this is one of those places where it’s easy to get caught up in just fulfilling the minimum requirement. But no matter how hard you try, you’re always going to feel like you’re doing that little bit well enough, so it doesn’t make sense to avoid doing things that are fun or peripheral interests just because the basic minimum requirements are hard. That’s something that I’ve really enjoyed and I wish I had done even more.
TT: So what would you say that you’re most proud of having accomplished here, in the five years that you’ve been here?
FR: I’ve managed to make something that shows up on a piece of paper out of almost every random little thing I’ve tried to do. Like if you show a little bit of interest, or if people are encouraging, you can end up with something you can actually be proud of. For example, I didn’t actually think I was that interested in research, but I ended up doing a project on my own as part of my study abroad project, and I even got a publication on a scientific paper as a result of that.
TT: Everybody hates this question, but where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
FR: I see myself as the kind of person who doesn’t want to work that hard but really enjoys my job, so I guess I see myself trying to find the least physically challenging work that still allows me to just have fun and talk to people. See, the vet that I’ve worked with for two co-ops is in his 70s at this point, and he’s still working, but he only works for the clients that he really likes. I’m like I want to be there really early in my career, I just want to travel to farms and talk to people and take care of their sick kittens and cows and everything all in one.
TT: Do you know what kind of vet you’d like to be, or where you’d like to practice?
FR: I definitely want to be in a rural area, and I don’t wanna say I have a lot of experience with farm animals and things, but most people from my area have like a cow, and a horse, and a goat, and a couple dogs and cats.
TT: Are you from a rural area?
FR: Ish. York County is definitely a farming area, but there are a lot of weird little suburban centers that have popped up, so you’re never far from anything.
TT: Are there any goats?
FR: Oh yeah.
TT: I love goats!
FR: I do too! We always had — not always had a goat, but we had a goat for a long time when I was a kid.
TT: You did? Oh my god, what was their name?
FR: Dickie. Because that was my grandfather’s nickname, so for whatever reason, we named the goat after my grandfather.
TT: We have the last question that we ask everyone — it’s really hard — what is your favorite ice cream flavor?
FR: Oh, man, that is rough. I’m gonna be that person and say vanilla ice cream can be really terrible, but when somebody makes it well. Oh man. That’s where it’s at. Because my parents make ice cream all the time, and our neighbor has chickens, and he collects eggs from those chickens. If you make custard from those eggs, it makes the best vanilla ice cream.