Being an SGC student has allowed me to become a better student and scholar overall. I have been able to use scientific critical thinking skills and knowledge about global change in every aspect of my education and life in general.
For example, I have employed the hypothetico-deductive method of science in many of my classes as a computer science major. One particular example I can remember is testing how many threads would be optimal for certain operations in CMSC132, an SGC supporting course. To put it simply, threads allow you to perform multiple tasks simultaneously so that the program can do multiple things at once. I tested small amounts of threads (5-10) up to large amounts (10000) and timed the program to see how long it took. To account for variability, I took the average of running the code with each amount of threads 5 times, since the same code will not always run in the same amount of time.
My hypothesis was that threads would be beneficial only up to a certain point. Each marginal improvement after adding each thread would continuously decrease until adding a thread seemingly did nothing at all. My hypothesis was slightly correct, however, the optimal number of threads was less than I thought. I assumed that this was because the operation was not complex enough to benefit from many threads.
One news item that struck my attention was the devastating wildfires in Greece during the summer of 2023, which were some of the worst in the country’s history. Reports highlighted that record-breaking heat waves, driven by climate change, created extreme conditions that fueled the fires. The Greek government declared states of emergency as thousands of people were evacuated, and iconic regions like Rhodes and Evia experienced severe destruction.
These wildfires were personal to me, since I am Greek and have family that lives there. I remember traveling to Greece a few years ago and being able to see the blackened foliage caused by the wildfires going on at that time. My cousins even saw smoke in the trees near their home and reported it to the authorities.
The 2023 wildfires in Greece were a reminder that, as SGC taught, without action, these extreme climate events are only going to get worse. As temperatures rise and greenhouse gas emissions increase, the frequency and severity of heat waves and droughts will increase. This means that more, and more extreme, wildfires are at risk of occurring.
Additionally, in SGC, we discussed certain feedback loops, such as how wildfires release carbon dioxide that further accelerates warming. When carbon dioxide is in a solid form (like in trees), it does not worsen global warming. However, when these trees are burned down, the carbon they hold gets released into the atmosphere.
Also, SGC helped enhance my learning in GEOG140, an SGC supporting course about natural disasters. Being both of these courses at the same time was mutually beneficial. For example, when completing my Visions of the Future presentation, I used knowledge I gained from GEOG140. Specifically, in GEOG140, we learned about how an increase in human development increases risk of flooding. Because there is less vegetation to slow down the drainage of water after events like a rainstorm, water quickly fills up rivers or other bodies of water, resulting in flooding. This was part of the inspiration for my Visions of the Future project; I included more green spaces to slow down water.
One of the most helpful ways that interacting with my fellow SGC scholars improved my learning experience was during our colloquiums that covered Paul Hawken’s book Drawdown. In class, we discussed a multitude of topics from the book, from food and energy to land and buildings, and how we can improve on these systems to decrease global carbon emissions. We were not assigned the whole book. Instead, for a few weeks, we were each assigned different chapters and discussed what we learned in small groups in class. This was extremely valuable, since we each got a deeper understanding of the topics we read and were able to “teach” that to others. Because of the volume of information, this format helped me gain a better understanding of the topics than I would have if I read each chapter individually, especially in such a short time frame.
However, I found that the living-learning aspect of the Scholars program was not very helpful to me. I did not make friends through Scholars. Instead I made friends through being a member of the marching band. I was able to work with these people to enhance my learning. By finding other people within the computer science major, I was able to discuss the courses we took and gain a better understanding of the lectures, homeworks, and projects. Last year, when I lived in Centreville with many other SGC Scholars, I saw this type of collaboration. Again, however, I did not experience this with Scholars.
One belief that Scholars has challenged is that I am a skeptic. In SGC we learned about the difference between skepticism and denialism. Denialism involves completely rejecting claims even when there is overwhelming evidence to support them. On the other hand, skepticism involves not believing anything until there is evidence to support it. While I would not say I was a complete denialist, especially when it comes to climate change, I would say that there were moments where I did not believe things that were proven to be true, such as GMOs not being bad for you. I immediately wanted to disregard anything a large organization or company said as false. However, that lecture changed the way I think about things and how I approach new information.
Ultimately, I think that Scholars will have a profound impact on my future. While I don’t think I will find myself in a climate related field (although I am not opposed to it), I believe that the more pragmatic side of SGC will stay with me. Being able to identify logical fallacies, correctly employ the scientific method, and be skeptical are all critical thinking skills I can carry with me throughout my entire life.