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The Why Axis: Greta Gohring


Why did you choose your major? (Chemical and Biomedical Engineering)

"I became interested in medical research after my older brother had an injury at work. After undergoing seven years of surgeries and uncertain diagnoses, my brother has suffered from permanent nerve damage, dystonia and CRPS. He recently had a Cortical Stimulator, Deep Brain Stimulator and a Dorsal Column Stimulator implanted to help interfere with the electrical misfirings in his brain. Going through all of this with him has exposed me to the blind-side of medicine: nerves. Not only has my brother’s struggle inspired me, but made me open my eyes to the issue that damaged nerves has had on roughly 20 million Americans. It has become a high priority of mine to find a way to regenerate damaged nerves and tissues in the body so I can one day help people who have been living this debilitating life, like my brother."

The Why Axis Project is a manifestation of a larger concept I try to incorporate into my work. In my opinion, to truly understand someone, you must learn why they do what they do and not just what. The world of college gave me the opportunity to start this photo story by looking at why people chose their major versus just what people chose. This fundamental shift in thinking has allowed me deeper connections to those I met and photographed. Through this long-term photo story, I hope to share all the different answers to this question.

The Why Axis: Janelle Isenhart

Why did you choose your major? (Biological and Chemical Engineering)

"There are two things I was completely sure of when I began looking towards my future. One, I want to help people with their problems and I want to make their lives a little easier. And two, I would make life a lot harder for myself if my parents weren’t happy with my career choice. Originally, I believed that medical school was the be-all-end-all option for being able to help people. I figured that I would go into the college of Arts and Sciences, major in a biological field of some sort, and go on to save the world. After all, two of my sisters are already doing the same thing. So, I thought, if they can do it, why can’t I? However, medical school and the process to actually get into it is hard. Like, really hard. My mom knew this so she proposed an alternative: apply to the engineering school and declare a major of Biological and Chemical Engineering. This way, I can get my prerequisites for medical school done as a lot of them will overlap with my engineering classes, and if worse comes to worse and medical school falls through, the odds of finding a good job with an engineering degree under my belt are in my favor. For now, it seems that engineering is the means that I can satisfy the two things I knew to be certain: I want to help people, and my parents need to be happy. I’m not sure where college will take me, if I will stay in engineering or the sciences at all, or if I will find my true passion and have the courage to pursue it, but I do know that I’m ready to find out."

The Why Axis Project is a manifestation of a larger concept I try to incorporate into my work. In my opinion, to truly understand someone, you must learn why they do what they do and not just what. The world of college gave me the opportunity to start this photo story by looking at why people chose their major versus just what people chose. This fundamental shift in thinking has allowed me deeper connections to those I met and photographed. Through this long-term photo story, I hope to share all the different answers to this question.
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