Three-Semester Review of SGC
December 2025
Growth in SGC
My experience as a Science and Global Change Scholar changed how I think about global change, scientific reasoning, and sustainability. When I joined the program, I had a general understanding of issues like climate change, but I didn’t yet have the tools to analyze where evidence comes from or how to compare different explanations. SGC quickly transformed that. I learned to use the scientific process not just as something to memorize in class, but as a real method for interpreting what I observe in the world, especially when reading news stories, scientific articles, or policy debates. A major growth area has been learning to apply the scientific “toolbox” as a genuine decision-making system. I now pause before accepting claims at face value and instead evaluate empirical evidence, causal reasoning, and even probabilistic reasoning when necessary. SGC also made me much more aware of how scientific information is communicated and how the framing of a story can influence public understanding. That skill became especially important whenever we discussed controversial or high-stakes environmental topics. If I hadn't been part of SGC, I would have learned some of these ideas in separate classes, but I wouldn’t have had the cohesive curriculum from various areas like history or the interdisciplinary conversations from guest lectures that brought everything together. The program helped me move from simply knowing that climate change exists to understanding how we know, why it occurs, and what resilience and long-term planning actually look like. In many ways, SGC gave me the foundation that turned passive awareness into a more informed analysis.
Understanding Evidence
One moment that stands out was when news outlets began reporting on the rapid decline of Antarctic sea ice and the possibility that the region had crossed a point of irreversible melting. Before SGC, I would have taken this in as another alarming climate headline without thinking much about how scientists actually reached those conclusions. Because of what I learned in the program, I could connect the story to larger ideas like asking myself how confident the scientists were in the underlying climate models, and what evidence supported the idea of a tipping point rather than normal year-to-year variation, and making sure I am checking all the perspectives and news sources, and understanding the full scope of the issue. Discussions in Colloquium trained me to ask more targeted questions, like how scientists handle uncertainty in ocean heat measurements, how warming trends in the Southern Ocean contribute to ice shelf instability, and how these findings shape future technical or engineering responses. I also found myself thinking about the broader implications, including how rapid ice loss might influence global politics, coastal planning, and cultural conversations about climate responsibility. That background helped me recognize which parts of the reporting reflected strong scientific consensus and which parts were tied to modeling uncertainties that the media tends to compress or oversimplify. SGC didn’t just help me understand the news; it gave me the vocabulary and critical lens to evaluate the accuracy of the science being communicated and to identify what might be missing from the public narrative.
Failures of Critical Thinking
Throughout my first three semesters, I saw many real-world examples of critical-thinking breakdowns that connected directly to what we were learning in SGC. In classes, it was common to hear peers make broad claims based on a single personal example, especially when talking about issues like climate policy or sustainability on campus. This tendency toward hasty generalization was something SGC taught me to identify immediately. I also noticed confirmation bias in discussions, particularly when environmental topics intersected with political beliefs. Students sometimes relied heavily on articles that fit their existing views while ignoring stronger or more comprehensive scientific sources that challenged them. Outside the classroom, social media made these patterns even more obvious. I saw people misread graphs, treat correlation as causation, and repeat sensational claims without checking the source. Seeing these habits around me reinforced the importance of slowing down, questioning assumptions, and applying the same critical standards to everyday information that we use in scientific contexts. SGC helped me recognize that good judgment relies on resisting cognitive shortcuts and constantly evaluating the quality of evidence.
Courses
Two supporting courses, HISP200 and ARCH272, expanded my understanding of global change and helped me connect SGC concepts to broader social and institutional issues. HISP200 deepened my awareness of how environmental and planning decisions directly affect underrepresented and immigrant communities. It pushed me to think about global change not as something abstract, but as something that shapes daily life through zoning, infrastructure, access to resources, and historical patterns of inequality. This course reinforced the idea that environmental issues are as much about people and social systems as they are about climate data. ARCH272 complemented that by showing how institutions translate sustainability goals into concrete plans. We studied the University of Maryland’s Climate Action Plan, LEED certification, and strategies for reducing carbon emissions, all of which demonstrated how scientific knowledge gets implemented through policy, design, and long-term planning. The course also highlighted the real constraints that organizations face when trying to adopt climate-responsive strategies. Together, these classes strengthened my grasp of resilience, systems thinking, and evidence-driven decision-making. They connected directly to SGC’s themes while adding important social, institutional, and practical dimensions.
SGC Scholars Experience
Being part of a living-learning community amplified everything I gained academically, but it also made the experience feel more exciting, supportive, and enjoyable. Some of the most meaningful learning happened in unexpected moments like having late-night conversations in the dorms, group study sessions that stretched longer than planned, and debates that flowed naturally from Colloquium into the hallway and became friendships that will last beyond college. These moments encouraged me to express my ideas with greater clarity, listen generously to others, and adjust my thinking based on thoughtful feedback from peers with different backgrounds, interests, and majors. One example was a group assignment on climate in Canada. I came in with a few assumptions about the issue, and I thought I had understood the full scope of the issue, but my friends challenged me to look deeper into indigenous factors, such as how many native tribes used controlled fires to control massive forest fires from going out of control. Their perspectives broadened my own and genuinely shifted the direction of our project, giving me a more nuanced understanding of why misinformation takes hold and allowed the presentation to have a greater depth. Another memorable experience was our SGC field trip to New York City to explore the dinosaur exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History. It was really fun, but it was also unexpectedly super interesting as our professors cleared up several misconceptions about dinosaurs that I had absorbed growing up, and learning the actual science behind those myths made the visit even more engaging. Experiences like these made the community feel both intellectually stimulating and personally supportive. They helped me build skills in collaboration, communication, and critical thinking that I simply would not have developed on my own.
How I Contributed to the SGC Community
I contributed to SGC in several meaningful ways that allowed me to support the community while growing as a leader. During Colloquium, I made a point to participate actively, not just by answering questions but by connecting scientific ideas to broader social issues and encouraging deeper discussions. During my time in the SGC community, I became a Scholar Advisor, mentoring incoming students by helping them select courses, offering tips for managing the transition into a fast-paced academic environment, and sharing strategies that helped me succeed in the program. I also served as a Sustainability Advisor, which was one of my most impactful contributions, where I promoted environmentally responsible habits within the community and connected students to campus initiatives focused on climate action and sustainable living. This role allowed me to foster a culture of awareness and responsibility, making sustainability more accessible and actionable for other students. These contributions mattered to me because they let me give back to a community that played a major role in shaping my early college experience. They also helped me develop leadership skills that I will carry into future academic and professional settings.
Concepts or People That Challenged My Previous Beliefs
SGC exposed me to perspectives that pushed me to rethink assumptions I had carried for years. For example, I used to believe that climate change solutions were primarily technological and that innovations alone would drive progress. Through coursework, discussions, and readings, I came to understand how deeply solutions depend on social systems, political structures, community engagement, and equity considerations. Peers also challenged my thinking. Some questioned the speed or feasibility of policy-driven change, which forced me to consider the balance between government responsibility and individual action. Others introduced me to environmental justice frameworks that made me reconsider who is affected most by climate change and why. These experiences broadened my perspective, moving me toward a more integrated understanding of global change as a problem that is scientific, social, and ethical at the same time.
A Future Look
The habits and analytical skills I gained in SGC will shape how I approach my junior and senior coursework. I expect to continue relying on the program’s emphasis on evidence evaluation, systematic problem-solving, and clear communication. These skills form the backbone of how I plan to conduct research, write academically, and interpret complex issues. If I pursue graduate school, SGC will serve as a strong foundation for advanced study in sustainability, environmental policy, or any field that requires interdisciplinary reasoning. Professionally, the program taught me how to collaborate across disciplines and engage with diverse stakeholders, which is essential for any role focused on climate, public communication, resilience planning, or community work. Looking back, SGC was more than a set of classes. It was a formative experience that shaped how I think, how I collaborate, and how I imagine contributing to solutions for the challenges ahead.