I must admit that the first time I heard about scholars program in general I was thinking to myself, what is this program? And in addition when I heard that I was placed in ELT I thought that there was going to be bunch of geology nerds talking about their pet rocks. However once I got to the class that was not the case as most of the class was not geology major and some were not even science majors. From first semester it became clear that the class was not about geology but science in general for example before there was any mention of how to distinguish between Igneous, Metamorphic, and Sedimentary we learned about the scientific method. Before I learned the scientific method in great detail in ELT, I kind of knew what t was from high school as the teachers were grudgingly teaching it because the textbook always had a lengthy explanation of it. So I knew that somehow one was to come up with a hypothesis and test it to see if it was true or not. Now I definitely know that the scientific method is based on falsifiable hypothesis not just hypothesis in general and it also involves peer review as well as publication, with the last two items being taught in the third semester.
One of the great things about being in this class was that you really get to learn what evolution is about. In some of my supporting classes, such as BSCI 207 and 222, the professors did kind of go over it, but the emphasis was on memorizing where organisms belonged on the genetic tree. So a lot of times I could say where in the tree there was the evolution of the ceolem but could not really explain how it evolved. After hearing the lectures in the second semester I could really understand the mechanisms of evolution and helped me in my other biology classes, where if I did not take ELT I would still be lost as how it worked.
Knowing about the scientific method and the theory of evolution is nice but that does not really help out in everyday life, as people would turn around and say that I am some kind of science geek who tries to ruin religious beliefs (which I certainly do not). As much as many people hate listening to science, people do understand that science is part of their lives and a good example of that would be global warming. After looking at the news and going to see the exhibits at the Koshland Museum for field trip for my first semester I had some confidence that global warming did exist. For me it was really easy to except that idea since science is much more mainstream in Japan and South Korea, so I did hear from adults that the earth was warming up and since I was a kid at the time I really did not care. However the big controversy did reach the American public by the time I was in high school here and many of my friends were saying something like, well the earth temperature is going to rise 5 degrees, big deal it just means that in summer instead of 90 degrees its going to be 95 degrees and in the winter we will just get more rain than snow. At the time I did agree with them; I mean what are a few more degrees during the year? But of course during the third semester I learned that those extra 5 degrees is just the average temperature and since the last ice age 600 years ago only saw a temperature decrease of 3 degrees it became apparent that increase of 5 degrees actually sounded apocalyptic.
Academically the ELT program was a positive experience for me as it enhanced my understanding of science itself, which my major falls under. I will probably be using what I learned in this class in the future in my profession and I am glad I learned science in the right way, not some cold fusion believing pseudo-scientist. As for interacting with my peers, I still do not know a single person in ELT considering there really is no way to get to know people when you commute from a place that is an hour away. So during group projects I did get to hear other opinions on whatever subjects the assignment was and learn from it, which has enhanced my ability to listen to other positions.