“What I’ve achieved at Missouri Western would not have been possible anywhere else.”
Major: B.S. in Biology – Health Sciences concentration
Hometown: St. Joseph, Missouri
When Ben Allen first decided to attend Missouri Western, he knew he wanted to be a physician. Then, he became heavily involved in the music department and, not wanting to look back and ask “what if?” decided to pursue his musical interests at another institution. After a semester away, Ben decided that path wasn’t right for him. “I immediately returned home to Missouri Western. I was welcomed as if I had never left and started right where I left off.”
Ben knew he needed real-world challenges to supplement his classroom experience, and started “seeking any new experience and taking the ones that found me.” One of these experiences was a nine-week research trip to Costa Rica, where Ben worked with insect populations. The project gave Ben a solid science and research background that helped him stand out from the crowd as he applied for medical school.
Ben’s ultimate career goal is to work as a pediatric heart surgeon.
“What I’ve achieved at Missouri Western would not have been possible anywhere else,” said Ben. “Missouri Western is the perfect size for students to excel and become very prominent members of their social and academic community.”