Bialik: Not easy being a geek
Mayim Bialik's 2008 doctorate in neuroscience from UCLA may give her more access than most actors would have to the world of Amy Farrah Fowler, her uber-geek character on CBS' "The Big Bang Theory."
Mayim Bialik's 2008 doctorate in neuroscience from UCLA may give her more access than most actors would have to the world of Amy Farrah Fowler, her uber-geek character on CBS' "The Big Bang Theory."
But if you're thinking the former "Blossom" star is just one of those lucky people to whom math and science come easy, think again.
As an adolescent, "I gave up on science," Bialik recalled. "I went to very competitive academic junior high and high school programs and I think by the end of seventh grade I knew that I could never be a scientist. I was bad at math, all those stereotypes.
"Even in an accelerated junior high school, that stuff was very deeply ingrained very quickly. So for me, when I was 15, I was in 10th grade, that's when I had this amazing experience with the woman who tutored me on the set of 'Blossom.' She was my biology tutor."
As a result, "I fell in love with science," she said.
Even then, it wasn't a snap.
"I hated calculus. I mean, I still went to regular school on our hiatus week. So I was still part of the L.A. gifted magnet [program] at North Hollywood High School," she said, adding that she didn't really catch up until college.
"I had a love and a desire to be a scientist, but I did not have the proper training. And that's why I'm grateful I went to a public university like UCLA [University of California, Los Angeles]," which offered remedial courses.
"A lot of people say, 'Oh, you're so smart.' And I appreciate the compliment [but] I worked hard to get a B-minus, you know, in organic chemistry. . . . I was not at the top of my class."
These days, Bialik, along with her husband, homeschools their two young sons in a "no-media household," and tries to pass on some of what she's learned.
"I designed the neuroscience curriculum for middle school for home-schooled students in our home-school community. I taught that two years ago. I did biology and chemistry last year," she said. When her own kids are a little older, "I will probably be many people's science teacher."