Over the course of my time in Science & Global change, I have become more enlightened. Coming into this program, I was, at first, disappointed because it had not been my primary choice for scholars; I thought this program would have honestly been pointless; thankfully, I was very wrong. During orientation, I remember one advisor telling me that the point of College Park Scholars was not to “choose a program that related to your major”, it was about expanding one's mind. The advisor told my group of incoming freshmen that any Scholars program, regardless of the participants major, would benefit our thinking. Coming out of this program, I have gained a new understanding of the relationship between science and the earth.
Before Scholars, I did not know the specifics of the scientific method, the certain aspects that could validate or invalidate a scientific study. The discussion we had 1st semester about pseudoscience helped me understand how scientists convinced the public to support their ideas. Learning about the varying types of voodoo science such as pathological science, junk science and pseudoscience taught me a lot about being a proper scientist. Some scientists try to hold onto their beliefs and use their findings incorrectly to validate their hypotheses no matter how wrong they actually are. I always knew that scientists could manipulate data to support their theories, but without SGC I may have never known about the various methods by which the truth could be tampered with. The group project for the carbon footprint we did during 1st semester taught me more about human emission. I knew about the carbon footprint but I had never researched the concept in-depth. Doing the projected enlightened me on just how taxing human life is on the environment, because of the project I’ve actively been trying to control my energy usage. Another important piece we discussed was 2nd semester during the colloquium lecture about “Oceans, Geography, Seasons and Cycles”. I found this lecture particularly interesting because I was able to refine my knowledge about oceans. The Global Ocean Conveyer Circulation was the most intriguing part because I learned that all Oceans in the world were connected. Science & Global Change has helped me gain a better understanding of things I was familiar with, but not very knowledgeable on. During the 1st semester of my freshman year, I took CHEM 135, General Chemistry for Engineers. In the class we learned about different ways in which Engineers think about Chemistry. Being in SGC helped me take my investment in the class further because I started applying lessons to the world around me. When we learned about combustion analysis reactions, I looked up applications of the technique in the real world. Another class I took during freshman year was MATH 115, Precalculus. In the class there was a unit where we studied the law of cosines and certain problems involved ships and their direction of travel. I did further research to see how a ships path is optimized to ensure it goes to and from its destination the quickest way. SGC helped me take what I learned in the classroom and try to find real life examples; before taking this class, I always questioned how the classroom and the real world interacted but this class motivated me to do the research myself.
The living and learning aspect did not help me as much because of my commuter status. There are only a few scholars I interacted with a lot because of knowing them before the class began. Knowing them as friends outside of class improved my learning because we were able to simultaneously discuss our scholarly activity and have fun while doing it. Having that level of friendliness actually helped us work better because we had fun while doing the work, it was not just about the grades. During the group projects in class, my learning was aided because I got to meet many new people whenever groups were randomly assigned. I did not know them on as a personal level because I did not interact with most of the class outside of the colloquium, but it was enlightening to be able to hear their reasoning for approaching our group projects during class. My thinking was expanded as a result. As good an experience SGC has been, I feel as though I have not contributed to it as much as I could have. Being off-campus discouraged me from engaging in scholar activities because I was trying to balance school, work and home responsibilities at once. But upon reflecting, in the future I will advocate SGC to my peers coming into UMD and encourage them to get involved with the program. It has been a great experience.
Upon coming to UMD, I’ve met a lot of people with different experiences and backgrounds. I met one person in particular who motivated me to start doing more outside of the classroom. Upon meeting him, I noted that we were quite similar: we both had many hobbies and were good academically. Where we differed was how much investment he put into his studies; when he did not understand something, he took it upon himself to find the answer instead of relying on “eventually” learning about it. That was then I realized that too often had I been complacent in my studies; I did enough to get by and had success but in order to become more dignified, I had to put more work in. He encouraged me to maximize my resources, not wait for things to come to me. Being in scholars got me in contact with another particular person who aided me in fortifying my argumentative reasoning. Regardless of the project, this particular individual always found a way to make me question my answers. Not to say that my answers were wrong, just that it was not enough to get the right answer because of a gut feeling; I had to start pinpointing my reasoning. Because of interactions with him, I became better at defending my arguments; I am thankful that SGC allowed me to meet him.
Coming out of SGC, I have become a better under-graduate student. I now try to apply everything I learn on a global perspective to see how our lives are possibly affected by it. In my junior and senior year, I plan on actively being engaged in my Biochemistry courses and will to use my resources to maximize my learning. SGC has taught me that seeing how science interacts with the world around us helps better understand its impact. I will take all I’ve learned to Medical School and beyond.