Over the last three semesters, SGC has taught me numerous things not only about climate change but also how to critically analyze, think, work together, and solve problems. These skills will enable me to be a better citizen so that I’m consciously making the right decisions for our planet. Recently in a lecture, I was learning about the disparities between wealthy and non-wealthy people and how living conditions differed between minorities and non-minorities. While learning about this I read a news article about how climate change disproportionately affected poor people compared to the rich and how minorities were also affected more by climate change as well. I was shocked at first seeing how much climate change would affect people with low incomes but then I remembered that in SGC I did a presentation on climate displacement and how poor people are the ones most likely having to migrate due to rising temperatures. This really defined my understanding of the disparities between the wealthy and poor and doing the presentation allowed me to have a better understanding of why wealthy people are better off not only financially but in terms of climate change as well since they have the means and resources not to be affected as much by the consequences of rising temperatures. In the SGC colloquium, we were shown numerous charts, infographics, and diagrams about past, current, and future climate predictions. It was really interesting to see how scientists were able to gather large amounts of data and then use them to predict future climate patterns as well. Many of these predictions required numerous data points and then algorithms to compute future predictions based on those points. This inspired me to continue my major in computer and data science. Seeing how scientists used math, statistics, and algorithms showed that I would be able to accomplish similar things by using and analyzing data, and that shifted my perspective knowing I could help create information useful for scientists and more. An SGC requirement is to go on an excursion, and last year I went to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. It was a sanctuary for migrating birds and other types of wildlife. Their goal is to protect species and if they become endangered numerous efforts are taken to get their population back up. However, due to high salinity in waters that used to be fresh because of sea level rise caused by rising temperatures, many trees have completely died altering the ecosystem that negatively affects biodiversity. This showed me that climate change has already caused pretty significant changes and if it continues to get worse these consequences could get to the point beyond repair. I learned that even though action is being taken to battle climate change it is not enough for the amount of damage that has already been caused. Another SGC requirement was to take supporting courses for the scholar's program, and for one of them, I chose to take Geology. Throughout this course, I was able to view several news articles on climate change and how drastic temperatures have risen in the past. Another main objective was that I had to be able to distinguish between fake and real news. In SGC we learned about how some hypotheses and statements didn’t provide enough evidence or facts an example of this being pseudoscience. Having this knowledge helped me identify which science article was real or didn't have enough evidence to be considered credible or factual. Being able to combine knowledge from both courses was beneficial since now I feel like I have a better understanding of geology and global warming, and can interpret actual science papers and articles. One thing I really enjoyed about being in scholors was being able to be apart of a living-learning community and constantly working together for projects and assignments. In colloquium when we had to work together to do activities it was nice to hear other people opinions and perspectives. For example, when we had to be in teams representing a countrie and choose which resources to invest and trade in, I found it very beneficial to work in a group since we all analyzed what would be best for our country and we got multiple perspectives to see which outcome would best suite our country. Furthermore being in a learning environment where everyone was so close was also really beneficial. I remember I had trouble at the beginning creating my website so I asked my next-door neighbor for help and she did an amazing job teaching me how to fix my issue. Scholars is not just a community but it is also a really close one since we constantly work together with different people each time so by the end, you’ll have met everyone. Contribution is really important especially in SGC since we are all a large community that learns and grows together. In Colloquium I always try and make conversation with my peers whenever we have an activity or a project so that we can effectively communicate and work together. For example, whenever I was working with my team on our Vision of the Future project I always ensured that I shared anything I learned while doing my research so that we were all on the same page about the solution we were creating, and I asked any questions I had whether it’s about the assignment, or about the expectations the class had or anyone else had for me. In field trip activities like the DC trip, I always contribute with my peers and share what I learned while watching the short documentaries and viewing the exhibits so that we can piggyback what we learned off of each other and make sure we didn’t miss anything significant. I think in total I have contributed a good amount towards SGC since I believe that I was able to learn much more while being an active member and contributor to my team and friends as well. Overall, SGC definitely did challenge some beliefs I had about climate change. Before becoming a part of SGC I always knew that climate change was a threat to human civilization and animal biodiversity, I had always considered it a threat and never took it lightly. However, I did not realize the extent of how much and how soon climate change would affect us. While going through the colloquium and learning about emissions and global warming I saw that we are already suffering from the consequences of fossil fuels and if we don’t do anything to reduce emissions right now they will only get worse and more drastic. For some reason, I thought the serious effects of climate change would only show decades later however that's not the case and that really shocked me. However, I’m glad I know the actual severity of climate change so that I can make the right decisions about lowering my carbon footprint and taking care of the Earth in any possible way I can. One significant thing I learned is even if only one person makes a change it doesn’t make a huge difference but if everyone makes that same change then it’s a massive one. My experience in SGC will definitely play a role in my future days in college as well as my career. A main impact that I learned from SGC was that you get things more done efficiently when you’re an active participant and are able to work together. In junior and senior year there are certainly going to be team-based projects or assignments and I feel like I’m prepared for them since I’ve already worked with a variety of people in scholars so I know how to get things done in a team environment. In my future career, I will most likely work with numerous people so having the background that I have from scholars will definitely help me navigate this path. During the internship I had last summer I was fortunate enough to already be comfortable working in a team environment and this was mostly due to the fact that I had already worked in numerous teams during scholars so I have no doubt that I will continue to use this skill that I’ve gained and refined over these past three semesters.