Coming into this class, I was already keen on the idea that more needed to be done to protect our resources and overall environment. Math 33 definitely reinforced this belief and it actually helped me formulate possible solutions to specific problems, showed me how to make arguments about the declining quality of the environment by using mathematics, and inspired me to work to become a Penn State EcoRep. I feel that I have gained enough knowledge and how to convey it properly that I now feel comfortable joining a group like this and implement change locally from the things that I have learned and gained.
One thing I especially enjoyed doing in this class was working on the In The News posts. Those encouraged me to search the web for the most up-to-date events regarding sustainability. I now not only know where to look for these types of articles, but how to analyze them to get the most information out of them. I also liked being able to educate myself on what is happening to the environment globally, rather than just what makes headline news and is local mostly to the United States. Doing these analysis assignments have helped strengthen my desire to educate others on the prevalence and importance of our global environmental struggle because I have learned in this class just how prevalent this is and is continuing to be.
I feel like I am with most students when I say that I was not sure how mathematics was going to be tied into this class and was nervous that I would struggle with the concepts, even though I knew I loved sustainability a lot. However, I was very interested in the different math topics that we went over and felt that they were important to learn if I was ever needing to provide concrete evidence for an environmental issue. Like in our Write and Respond assignment for example. I felt that it was important to have a mathematical component to make our argument or analysis stand out and be taken seriously as factual evidence. Especially for people who are more inclined to believe an argument when it is logically broken down into something like mathematical equations. This can be beneficial to me as I enter into EcoReps and start doing research and finding solutions to make Penn State more sustainable.
Overall, I am very glad I took this class and was able to broaden my horizons and look at the environment and sustainability on more of a global scale. I also was glad for the experience to work with some environmental questions and problems and try to answer them with mathematical equations and techniques. I believe this will help me during my time and Penn State and beyond as I try to help keep the environment healthy and livable for the generations after us.