Born and raised in the PCA, Jonah Hitchcock ‘23 grew up aware of the existence of Covenant College. People in his life attended Covenant and suggested it to him. After some friends decided to attend, Hitchcock visited and, finding he loved the location, professors, and student life, he decided to enroll.
The son of a behavioral neuroscientist, Hitchcock grew up loving science. While the biology major is difficult, he loves studying the way God made the world and the human body. He appreciates Covenant’s holistic approach to the study of biology, emphasizing how everything is touched by life.
While Hitchcock came into his major expecting it to be challenging, he was surprised by how much time it took to master the material. He found college to be a place of discovering how much there is to learn and figuring out what study methods work best for him.
Hitchcock has found the most difficult thing about his major has been the volume of material to master. As it is a field of study with many complex aspects, the biology major has been a cycle of asking questions, researching, coming to conclusions, and asking more questions.
However, the challenges that have come with a major that involves asking a lot of complex questions have also been very rewarding for Hitchcock. “One of the most rewarding things is being able to ask hard questions and have hard conversations about things like that in community with people and then have that atmosphere,” Hitchcock said.
Some of the hard conversations that have come with being a biology major have involved that nature of life and death. Looking into the challenges that come when defining life and death, Hitchcock has been pushed to look further into the purpose of life, where biology and theology meet. He has found that his faith has impacted his studies by shaping his worldview, and that he would not look at the purpose of life and other accepts of his studies the same way if he did not have his relationship with Christ.
Another connection between his studies and his faith he discovered was in the way that looking at creation has strengthened his walk with Christ. “It’s like if you study someone’s artwork. If you study someone’s artwork you get to know the artist in a really deep intimate way. And it’s mind blowing that when I study biology, I’m studying the work of both my Creator and Sustainer and my Savior,” Hitchcock said.
Dr. Tim Morris of the Biology Department finds that students coming in are often surprised by how much is unknown in the field. “Coming out of high school often because of textbooks, it’s kind of like… ‘we know all this, and there maybe is a little bit of fine tuning work to do,’ whereas you don’t have to dig very deeply in any topic in biology to find huge areas of ignorance,” Morris said. He appreciates the discipleship aspect of teaching, and the overlap between theology and biology.
This semester, Hitchcock is studying abroad in France in order to live in the culture and learn the language. The descendant of French Huguenots, Hitchcock has enjoyed the opportunity to see places his family has been and learn about France’s history. While he misses having classes with his Covenant professors, he found he has received a rich experience he would have missed if he hadn’t gone.
Going forward as a biology major, Hitchcock looks forward to writing his capstone project because he will have the opportunity to research and work on his own with support from his professors.