My experience as a Science and Global Change scholar helped me understand topics outside of SGC colloquium that dealt with the nature of science and global climate change. In a news article titled: "A carbon footprint life cycle assessment can cut down on greenwashing" by Ann Leslie Davis, the author talks about how reducing your carbon footprint can stop unethical practices like greenwashing. This article struck my attention because it opened my eyes to firms that deceive their customers into believing their products are more environmentally friendly than they are. These firms use labels such as "eco-friendly" without official certification and plastic bags labeled as recylable when they aren't. SGC broadened my understanding of a carbon footprint and the steps you can take to reduce it, which helped me better understand this article. Additionally, I understood various terms in the news report, such as "carbon negative" and "carbon neutral" that I would not have known had it not been for SGC. Comparing my beliefs and prior knowledge about carbon reduction from SGC with what I learned from the report was also helpful in understanding it.
Last semester, in my BSCI laboratory course, I had to use the hypothetico-deductive method of science to complete a group project. For my group project, I had to test antibiotic resistance on different strains of bacteria. With that, I constructed a hypothesis, did background research for a research paper, tested it in the lab, and analyzed results to draw conclusions. SGC helped me understand how to complete these steps effectively so I could present and communicate my results to the rest of my class. One of the topics in SGC was the importance of falsifiability in science. Through SGC, I was able to determine if my hypothesis was falsifiable or not, which made the rest of the experiment run smoothly because I didn’t need to backtrack and revise my hypothesis.
SGC reinforced some of the ideas I learned in my biology courses, specifically BSCI160: Principles of Ecology and Evolution. This course dealt with the basic principles of biology, emphasizing on ecological and evolutionary biology. One of the topics I learned was about the Earth’s rotation and how it could affect weather and climate. With this came an important concept called the Coriolis effect. The Coriolis effect is when circulating air is deflected in a curved path as a result of the Earth’s rotation. This concept was touched on in one of the SGC colloquiums during freshman year which helped me reinforce my understanding of it. It was really interesting seeing how it was taught in the two different courses and watching it be explained in different ways.
Science and Global Change helped me identify and understand logical fallacies in my other courses. For instance, in my oral communications course: COMM107, we are required to construct and give speeches based on various topics. One of the speeches I was tasked to give was a persuasive presentation to persuade my classmates to quit/adopt a behavior. For this speech, we needed to use different persuasive appeals and avoid the use of faulty logic/logical fallacies. Because of SGC I was more familiar with the different types of logical fallacies that one could use in their speech. With this, I was able to craft a strong and persuasive argument that didn’t rely on deception and flawed logic. I was also able to identify when different types of fallacies were being used during a lecture when prompted by my professor.
Interacting and making friends with other SGC scholars has improved/enhanced my learning in different ways. Some of the friends that I’ve made from SGC share some of the same courses with me, so we’re able to have group study sessions. Group studying is really helpful because you can get different perspectives from other people in a comfortable setting. Additionally, having your friends explain concepts you have trouble understanding can prove to benefit your learning. Helping your friends with topics they have trouble with can help you learn as well. Outside of learning, the friends I’ve made in SGC have helped me go for more opportunities that I otherwise wouldn’t have by myself. For example, becoming a peer mentor was something I originally wasn’t planning on doing, but going through the experience with a friend made me more willing to do it.
Throughout my three semesters, I think my biggest contribution to SGC is being a peer mentor. Being a peer mentor meant serving as a resource and a point of contact for incoming freshmen Scholars. I started being a peer mentor in the fall of my Sophomore year and my tasks were to check-in with my mentees throughout the year, hold events whether it be academic or just fun engaging activities, and provide them with information about getting involved. One of the events that I participated in was "Scholars Under the Lights", which was an event to get to know incoming scholars through fun games and community building activities. On service day, I was able to bond with my mentees during the first week of school and get to know them while participating in community service. Another event I participated in was the "Cambridge Community Fall Fest", in which various events and activities were held throughout the week of halloween: Coffee and Donuts, Smores with Scholars, Fall Fest Trivia and Trick or Treating.
Making friends with people in SGC had introduced different perspectives and caused me to think about things differently. Pre-med students are always encouraged to take a gap year, which I was against. I always had plans to finish my 4 years and then go straight into med school. Meeting people who shared different perspectives on the matter encouraged me to to really think about the reasons as to why I was so against taking a gap year in the first place, and be more open-minded about its benefits. For now, I still don’t fully plan to go that route but compared to the beginning of my college career, I am a lot more open to the idea. During my time in SGC, I was able to hear from a panel about how to get more involved on campus and how to obtain internships and other opportunities. Looking at the future, specifically my junior and senior year I definitely think I would be drawing on what I’ve learned so that I could aim for those opportunities. Overall my time in SGC has not only taught me a great deal about the nature of science, but also about how to propel myself forward in my professional career and get myself involved with all the opportunities this university has to offer.