Despite loving science, Ivan Decker's first exposure to field work doesn't go as planned, and Nathan Min tries to pursue a 'respectable' scientific career, but finds himself relating to the mice he studies.
Read MoreUnprepared: Stories about unprepared parents
When Jack Walsh finds out his first child will be born in just a few days, he panics, and after experiencing hearing loss, Jeannie Gaffigan receives the startling news that she has a brain tumor.
Read MoreRevelations: Stories about big reveals
Growing up in the fifties and sixties, Jenice Matias senses there's more to her mother's occupation than she understands, and D.B. Firstman has always known their body is different, but at the age of thirty, they make a discovery that changes everything.
Read MoreEmergency: Stories about urgent situations
As a first-generation pre-med student with no financial aid, Brooke Dolecheck takes a job as a 911 operator to support herself, and flight paramedic Marc Doll must transport a child to St. Louis for his last chance at a heart transplant.
Read MoreAsking for Help: Stories about needing assistance
Determined to fit in as a PhD student, Aparna Agarwal decides she'll never ask for help -- even if it means fitting in to much smaller gloves, and on a snorkeling trip of his dreams, Jesse Hildebrand doesn’t want to admit he has no idea what he’s doing.
Read MoreDesperate Times: Stories about resorting to desperate measures
After donating her kidney to a friend, Leah Waters struggles to get back to normal, and when the coral colonies of her childhood experience a bleaching event, Native Hawaiian coral biologist Narrissa Spies must face her greatest fear to protect them.
Read MoreMath Class: Stories about adventures in math education
High school math whiz Tori has always hoped a boy would fall in love with her mind, but when it finally happens, she's not sure how she feels, and high achieving, but superstitious college student Maryam Zaringhalam’s entire system collapses when she misses a calculus test.
Read MoreBarriers: Stories about what stood in our way
Eager to succeed in her Physical Chemistry class, Shaniece Mosley is thrown off by a professor's attempt at a compliment, and Lelemia Irvine struggles to get through his PhD program as he's constantly told that his identity as a Native Hawaiian is incompatible with academia.
Read MoreLeap of Faith: Stories about finding and losing faith
Feeling like a loser after he fails to graduate on time with his degree in materials science, Len Kruger accepts a dinner invitation from a cult, and after young Jehovah's Witness Emmanuel Garcia loses his faith, he finds a new purpose at a neuroscience conference.
Read MoreA Whole New World: Stories about having to take on the challenge of a whole new existence
Sean Bearden has never been interested in education, but when he's incarcerated at the age of 19, he finds a passion for physics, and when Victoria Manning decides to get a cochlear implant, she fears losing her identity as a deaf person.
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