As a student in Science and Global Change, I certainly see the prevalence and frequency of the pressing issues discussed in class. Even in classes unrelated to science and global change like LARC 160 and NFSC100, I see glimpses of environmental awareness and intervention. Everywhere I turn, I am always reminded of the pressing and seemingly insurmountable issue of climate change.
My experience as an SGCer enhances my ability to process news and read articles. The other day, I was reading a CNN post about a massive snowstorm hitting Calfornia and instead of taking everything as fact like a normal consumer, I visited and follow links to their roots to find sources. Being able to verify information and pick out credible information is a skill that I have learned being apart of SGC. The problem with the modern day is, as technology becomes more and more involved in our daily lives, the more false information is spread. In addition, as a college student, I meet a variety of different people with different backgrounds, upbringing, and culture; however, there is a specific time where I encountered a failure of critical thinking skills. The topic of interest was masks. The argument was that if everyone was vaccinated, then they do not need to get vaccinated. While that may be true in a sense, (herd immunity) the problem with the argument was that he had already had coronavirus in the past. The argument was seemingly based on something scientific (herd immunity) but in his case did not have much backbone.
I see presence of science everywhere I go. As a computer science student, courses like CMSC250 and CMSC330, still involve theory and science. Proofs, logic, and the scientific method all tie in and allow me to appreciate the excellence of the work. Scientific method is relevant and prevalent as a computer scientist and SGC allowed me to become more familiar and experience with these concepts.
Since, SGC is not restricted and open to all majors, there is a ton of diversity. This was a change since major requirement classes are specific to your major and theres very little major diversity. SGC is different, after interacting with others I quickly saw new perspectives and new ways to think. In the long run, these interactions have helped me become a more well rounded and open minded student. Out of class, however, I found students who were also in SGC and in my computer science classes. With an easy to way to connect through SGC, it allowed me to find new friends.
Unfortunately, my contribution to SGC was limited in a way. With the pandemic at hand, and the first two colloqiums being online, there was little to no opportunity to be a major contributor. This semester, however, I contributed more with in class presentations and online discussions. In class presentations were a great way to show case a topic that I was an expert on.
Off the top of my head, I do not believe there are any encounters with other students that challenged my beliefs or opinions. Most of my encounters in SGC have been cordial and relaxed; I have not have the pleasure of delving into a deep intellectual conversation with other peers. Next semester, however, I am taking a scholars course (CPSP369J) about cultural diversity through intergroup dialogue; there, I may be able to participate in deeper discussions with other peers and gain new insight.
Next semester, I intend on taking AOSC200 (Weather and Climate) from my interests sparked by SGC. Throughout my academic career, weather and climate was not covered indepth and I really only had a surface level understanding of these topics. SGC was the first course that required me to do my own research and I gained new insight after taking this course. Currently, I am waitlisted for AOSC200 but I hope I can enroll.