HC: Hello Mahal, and thank you for agreeing to be my interviewee!
Mahal Bugay: You really had no other option. Are you really putting that there? Just tell them that you almost missed the deadline, too. What if I just answered with memes?
HC: Why did you choose to come to Agnes Scott?
MB: My other choice was a larger public university and when I went to visit the other university I didn’t feel like they really cared, like I was just another face in the crowd. When I went to Agnes Scott I felt it was a bit more personalized and I could really see that the students really loved their school and that they truly believed that the school changed them for the better and I really wanted that in my life because I wanted to just grow into a more confident being and develop skills that I think would be necessary later in life.
HC: What is your major here at Agnes?
MB: That’s a good question. Um… As of right now, and probably for the rest of my career here I’m a biochemistry and molecular biology major with, not declared but I want to declare these minors as Spanish and environmental and sustainability studies.
HC: Why did you choose that?
MB: Um… That’s a good question? *laughs* I really liked taking science classes in high school, well, except for physics. I didn’t really like physics. I still don’t like physics. But when I took chemistry classes I just thought the classes were really interesting and I just really like biology in general, especially the molecular biology aspects of it, and genetics. I thought that was just interesting how such simple (well simple for lack of a better word) molecules could just compose so many complex beings, so that has kind of furthered my interest. So I thought biochemistry would be a good combination of the two interests of biology and chemistry, however I wish I knew it was a bit more chemistry than biology when I came in. But I like it either way. Then for environmental and sustainability studies, I’ve always had an interest in environmental and ecological issues but I’ve just never been sure on how to enact that because I felt like I was just limited in my resources back home and I wasn’t always sure what to do. So I’ve always had an interest but I’ve never really had the opportunities or time to really delve myself into those. Next for Spanish I’ve taken the language for a really long time and I just thought it was interesting and I always like to read new literature so I thought maybe Spanish literature would be a good thing to branch into.
HC: What do you have to do for the Environmental Studies minor at Agnes?
MB: ESS 101 is the main course you have to take, and then after that there are other areas that you can delve into. There’s a science focused environmental course section you have to take, so you can either take environmental biology or ecology, something that will satisfy that natural sciences requirement. Then they have an environmental focus requirement where it could be like topics in environmental leadership or environmental ethics and then they have another set of requirements of different classes you could take to satisfy that requirement like economics 105 or intro to world politics. These classes are supposed to help delve you into the different aspects of environmental issues like the political, STEM focused, and economic based things. You can also do an environmental internship I think off campus or on campus with the office for sustainability.
HC: What are your goals post-Agnes?
MB: Most likely grad school. Like the way my life is set up, like I’m just so much into STEM going to graduate school in a STEM field would be the most likely option for me because I’m not pre-med, I don’t care to be pre-med; I don’t care for pharmaceutical school or anything like that; I’d rather just do research by itself and just discover the world through science, so deep, so fresh. You should put that in the thing, you should make it the meme.
HC: Is there anything in particular that you’re doing now to prepare for grad school?
MB: As a first year I was able to conduct research at Emory university which helped me a lot in understanding what biology based research was about. I was able to form a really good relationship with my mentor in the lab, so I was able to continue research this semester, and hopefully I can continue it on in the later semesters before I graduate from undergrad. Especially in research focused areas of study, having previous research and like, learning new techniques and skills is very beneficial for you because people know that you can do these difficult tasks that others have assigned you and they’re like “OK, they can do this job, so they can do this other job we have for them.”
HC: Are you involved in any clubs?
MB: I’m involved, but sometimes I just get the emails. I’m mostly involved in model UN. In that club we have different simulations, mostly ones that aren’t the general assembly ones where this person represents “x, y, and z country we do ones which are more focused on different situations. Recently we had one focusing on the building of Republic City from Legend of Korra which was really fun to do. The focus of that is to help develop public speaking skills and argumentative skills and I think that’s a thing I want to focus on in my life. I’m the volunteer co-chair for that club. The main organization that we volunteer with is Global Growers, which is an organization which helps refugee families settle into the states and begin to farm. I’m also a part of the American Chemical Society, but more specifically the branch of biochemistry and molecular biology. I’m just a general member of that. I’m a science tutor. We get shirts, so that means that it’s a club right? I’m a part of Scotties for Change, I like going with them to Paws Atlanta ‘cause I really like working and playing with the animals and getting a break from campus.
HC: What hobbies do you have?
MB: I don’t know anymore ‘cause college took away all the time I had for hobbies. When I do have the time, I like to read books on various topics. I read a bioethics book written by a journalist that was an interesting read. I’ll read historical books, [though] it depends on what the topic is. I like to watch various shows and movies ‘cause I just like to see the plots and storylines. I like to go hiking in my spare time. I [also] like to go running. Running [is] a really good stress reliever for me ‘cause college is really stressful and I just need to literally run away from my problems and just focus on something else.
HC: Last but not least, what is your favorite meme?
MB: Can it be a Vine? We all die you either kill yourself or get killed doot doot doot *waves arms.* If you can link that Vine in there, that’s great. That’s my favorite one ‘cause it’s just so catchy.