Preface
I started reading science journals, while I was too young to understand them.
I was taking AP Biology (1990–1991). Although I attained a 5 on the AP exam—the highest possible score—my journey to the exam was (slightly) different from my classmates.
I had missed a Lab assignment. Our teacher did not want to make time (during or after school) to allow me to make up the Lab. Instead, she assigned a research paper on the same topic. I was limited to using articles from Science and Nature—a peer-reviewed science journal and a science journal, respectively.
To our teacher, that seemed like a reasonable alternative to the Lab assignment.¹ At the time, I was a Junior in high school (11th grade; age 16 or 17).
Until my "make-up assignment", I had never read a science magazine more academic than Popular Science and OMNI. Senior year in high school (1991–1992), I discovered Scientific American—and started a 1-year subscription, which I renewed for many years (until 1998).
But, this was was the year before that—my Junior year. To some extent, it began my interest in reading high-level articles in Scientific American.
I had never read anything as academic and technical as Science or Nature. Their articles are written for people with Bachelor's (or higher) degrees—in the same scientific field as the author. The articles are not written for high school students. Even the "gifted kids" are unlikely to comprehend them.
I was kicked out of the "Gifted and Talented" program, years earlier. Unfortunately, the school district didn't (officially) offer a "Disruptive and Awkward" program. But, they offered something similar. By the time I finished high school, I was very familiar with the classroom used for after-school detention—and its regular roster of students. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Do you know how to study new material?
Especially, if that material is outside of your interests?
At first, I barely understood anything I was reading. I finished the first article thinking, "I only understood half of what I read." This "make-up" for an 84-minute-long Lab assignment, took me over a week to complete.
Why? Because I didn't accept my ignorance. Nor did I just regurgitate (or plagiarize) text from the articles. I learned the material as I read—no matter how deep down the rabbit-hole that sent me.
To do that, I re-read the first article—applying to the gaps in my knowledge, the following method:
Encounter term or concept I don't understand
Go to the library's card catalog and find a book, a microfilm, or a microfiche which covers that subject
Find the item and start reading
Encounter term or concept I don't understand
Go to the library's card catalog
Find and read
Encounter term or concept I don't understand
Go to the library's card catalog
Find and read
Encounter term or concept I don't understand (and so on)
Only after I felt I had a good grasp on the bottom-most level—i.e. 3.c.iii.(?)—did I move up the stack of material. I'd repeat that for the level just above the bottom-most level. And again. And again.
Until I finally understood the entire top-level article—the one which I can reference in my research paper.²
(1) Our teacher was a lunatic. She over-prepared us for the AP exam; such that, I still recalled more about general Biology than my Pre-Med friends—in 1995, 1996, and 1997 (4–6 years later). Despite that I was studying Computer Science, Physics, and Mathematics—those friends all came to me to help them prepare for the Biology portion of the MCAT.
Except for one. He and I had been academically competitive, since 4th grade. Although I offered, he thought he was above accepting my help. Also, he was my only (pre-med) friend attending an Ivy League university. I was at a State university. He scored a 32(S) on the MCAT. He got the lowest (numerical) score, of all my friends, by a 4-point margin.
Because of his low MCAT score, he was the only one who chose not to apply to medical school.
The rest are (practicing) Medical Doctors, now.
(2) Ironically, I do not recall the topic of the paper (the Krebs cycle? Mitochondria? Ribosomes?). But, I recall that I was required to quote the abstract of each article I referenced. And I must include (at least) 3 references. I was not, however, permitted to quote entire paragraphs in the body of the paper. Nor could I "lean on" quotations from the article. My paper must be "an original work". smh ¯\_(ツ)_/¯