Over the first three semesters at the University of Maryland, I have had the opportunity to be a part of the College Park Scholars community, specifically the Science and Global Change Scholars . I've gotten to experience Scholars both the on-campus and online, and through both experiences, I have learned a lot about the world I'm living in and the dire future that looms in the near horizon. In this reflection of my experiences, I will talk about the lessons learned from my classes and through my interactions with those in the program.
I would like to first begin by giving a brief background on how the three semesters of Scholars colloquium would go. Every semester, I would have colloquium once a week for Science and Global Change. During the duration of this class, we would learn about different aspects of climate change; first semester served as an introduction to the topic of climate change and the records from the past that foreshadow what is to come, second semester tackled the science of our earth and the noticeable, negative changes to our global environment, and this semester covered more political and social perspectives on the issue of climate change. Before I was in the program, I was aware of the issue of climate change, but after going through these three semesters, I was honestly shocked about how little I knew about the subject. As well as learning new information about climate change, I learned a lot about how to approach such information, one such way by using the hypothetico-deductive (or scientific) method. There are three main features of this method: repeatable observations, hypothesis falsification, and the formulation of a theory. In the context of science in general, using this method is a way of validating a scientific claim, which is really important for correcting misconceptions; in the case of my Scholars' program, the ability to show evidence about how impactful climate change is and will be on society is a key factor for sparking global change. Though I might not be in the stages of leading a worldwide movement, I'm still able to use this scientific method in my field of study. One notable use of this method was in the form of an over-the-sand vehicle project in one of my engineering classes. In order to finalize a design, I played an important role of making improvements to the design of our vehicle (while applying the scientific method). After observing certain issues that might have been causing our design such problems, I would propose a modification that might fix the problems, though I was prepared to be met with constructive criticism. Though this example might seem like just ordinary project steps, the big distinction was my mindset while doing the project. I believe that the Scholars colloquium helped me in these processes of critical thinking, especially since I was learning about how to apply the scientific method while taking this engineering course. As well as influencing my other classes I've taken, Science and Global Change has given me hindsight on my mindset for my future career. When I first entered UMD, I hadn't really considered that given the current circumstances in my future working time I may be faced with a global climate change crisis that may affect my life significantly. This was quite evident in one of our group activities this semester where we roleplayed different countries striving to achieve economic success. What took me most by surprise was the wave of mock countries that were severely affected by an introduced actually possible global warming scenario, which really put into perspective what may happen in the future. To tie this into my future career, no matter what I do I will most definitely need to have a mindset that both provides towards our societal growth technologically and environmentally. I think in general, the classes that have related to my Scholars experience have really shown me different perspectives on learning. For my math and chemistry courses, I had taken classes that had covered topics in my college courses, but once I started taking these courses I started to approach problems in ways that I hadn't known back in high school. Growth is inevitable, but my Scholars courses really helped me propel forward into this new unknown.
In terms of the community aspect of Scholars, I really enjoyed the time I was given, both on and off-campus. I lived in Centerville Hall the majority of my freshman year, and honestly it was amazing. I met tons of amazing people through the living-learning community, many of whom I'm still friends with even though we were forced to be online. I made tons of memories throughout this experience, whether it was with the people in my dorm or with the people I shared colloquium with. Since many of the people I met also shared similar majors/interests, I found lots of ways to be engaged on campus and lots of people to study with and learn from. At the same time, I was introduced to a world of new people with different beliefs. As someone who had been going to Catholic school for the last 13 or so years, meeting people with different morals and different practices was definitely a change for me. At the same time, it was really refreshing to be exposed to a diversity of cultures around me. UMD is quite well known to be a diverse campus, and I really enjoyed being able to participate in them; many of the student led ethic groups held public events that I would stop by and check out. I think becoming accustomed to so many different people was a challenge I had to overcome, but I've grown to appreciate the vastness of the people that UMD hosts each year. In terms of the more Scholars based activities, I really am disappointed that COVID messed up these in-person activities because I sincerely appreciated all of the things I was able to do in my first year. Whether it was Service Day at the Lilypad Gardens, the Museum Scavenger Hunt, or the Calvert Cliffs Fossil Hunt, each and every excursion really positively added to my college memories. All of these experiences really motivated me to become a peer mentor for SGC. I wanted the freshmen to be able to have the same (if not better) experience with Scholars as I did. Little did I know that COVID would be around the corner, making this a lot more difficult. Nevertheless, I have tried the last few months to be a positive and motivated beacon for my peer mentees. I really have enjoyed my role thus far, and I hope that my efforts will make a positive impact on those who have had to go through rough times because of the virus. As well, it has been especially hard to make friends with people, since online classes don't really allow for that functionality. Though there are a lot of negatives I could say about our current condition, it's best to think about the potential greatness that awaits in the near future.
Looking back on my last three semesters, I never would have thought that I would have changed so much. Comparing my old self to my current self, I was much more closed-minded about the world around us and the reality of the struggles that people go through and will go through. Scholars really helped me to build a more open mindset through the people, the community, the classes, and the atmosphere. Though the specific content may not directly impact my future career, it will impact my approach on life in the coming years. Scholars is a once in a lifetime experience that everyone should have a taste of if possible. Whether you make the most out of it is up to each person, but I felt like I've grown from this experience. My journey has not ended yet with Scholars, and I am soon to be taking the CPSS240 Practicum Class, which I hope will be another opportunity to make an impact on others. In conclusion, I've had quite a great experience in Scholars, and I plan to continue doing so next semester. :)