Monthly Archives: August 2013

Why I am here…taking a science class.

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Hi Science class! My name is Christina Keating and I am from King of Prussia, PA. (Yes, I go to the mall at least once a week while I am home.) My family is almost all Penn State alumni including my older sister, who is without a doubt my role model. I am a freshman at Penn State, but this is my second semester because I decided to do summer session. Doing summer session was the best decision of my life! I am in the College of Communications hoping to declare my major sophomore year for advertising/ public relations. 

When I heard taking a science course was mandatory at PSU, I wanted to cry. Throughout high school I hated every science class because it was all memorization, something I am terrible at. I had orientation in May and my advisor told me to try BiSci as my science course. During summer session my one professor asked if anyone was taking BiSci so I rose my hand and she said “Do you like science?” I said absolutely not. Her reply was, “Good luck.” I ran into my dorm and switched into this science class because it is more critical thinking, not memorization. Also, the reviews were very good on ratemyprofessor and I can already tell they were all right. 
By the way I love PSU football and went to the game this weekend against Syracuse! I posted a picture of the game on my Instagram if you want to check it out! Screen Shot 2013-08-31 at 11.01.32 PM.png
My sister (to the right) and I at the Syracuse VS PSU game!

Science, Say What???

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Hi!!!!

My name is Jefferson “Jeff” Cauvin. I’m a senior, I will forever bleed blue and white. I am in the Smeal College of Business majoring in business Management with a minor in MIS. The reason why I am taking SC 200 is because I have no other choice, I need a couple science classes here and there to graduate( trust me if I didn’t need it I wouldn’t be taking it.) But funny story, I graduated from a high school called: Science Leadership Academy. I spent all four years learning about the sciences to the point where I had a love-hate relationship with science;  I needed a break from science. I could not see myself in a lab all my life testing samples of bacteria in a lab coat, even though I loved my lab coat; Yes, we had to wear a lab coat at Science Leadership Academy. Lets fast-forward to four years present time, I’m in a “science class”  rekindling my love for the sciences, talk about a fairy tale story. 
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Initial Blog

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Hello world of science. My name is Laurel Saltiel and I’m a sophomore majoring in Finance at The Smeal College of Business. When I was forming my schedule last semester, I asked my roommate what good general education classes were out there, and she recommended SC200. My initial reaction was “Absolutely not! Science is not my thing.” She rolled her eyes at me and told me to look it up. So, of course I did some digging and it turns out that this course was perfect for me. The description stated “A science appreciation course, aimed at making non-scientists more informed consumers of science.” Key words, non-scientists.

The closest science and I ever got was through one of my favorite TV shows, The Big Bang Theory. If it wasn’t for Dr. Sheldon Cooper, I probably wouldn’t even know what an atom is. Science has just never been my strong point. I work much better with people, numbers, and stocks than I ever will with the periodic table. I pretty much knew after I failed my first Chemistry testin High School that I would never be a Science wiz, and here I am 4 years later, exactly where I thought I would be; Business School.
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I never know what to title things

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Science is vast. It’s magnitude stretches from the extremely simple to incredibly complex and difficult. Somewhere in between the simple and the complex is where science-related subjects lost me. 

My middle school and high school science classes can hardly be considered that. Honestly, I’m not sure if my previous teachers understood completely what they were teaching, if they decided to actually do something that day. Teachers are everything when I am learning things in science and even math related fields and my not-so-great teachers played a major role in my lack of understanding in science. When things get more difficult than learning basic scientific facts, I am lost. It just doesn’t click with me. This little understanding of science is obviously why I am not a science major. I am a Smeal hopeful but I’m still not sure of what exactly in business I am looking to do.
I am hoping that this class will make me better understand the things going on around me and appreciate the work that scientists do. Their work is incredible but my lack of understanding makes me unable to give them the credit they’re due. I’m excited for blogging because I think it will force me to see all the science going on around me that is often overlooked. 
Outer space pics are my favorite! 
This site has a lot of cool ones:

Science of Life

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My name is Cameron and I’m a freshman with a summer session under my belt. I’m originally from Bloomsburg, PA but I’ve lived most of my life in a small town called Jersey Shore…….PA (Not New Jersey or the Show). I’m in DUS as of now for my first year but hope to enter the Smeal College of Business for my major. 

My first days at Penn State were some of the most confusing days starting this summer. When my adviser suggested that I take this class instead of the science class that I had chosen on unusual weather. She told me it was a class of science for non-science students. That would be me! Another reason I took this class is because my adviser also told me the professor who taught the class was interesting and most students gave him a good reviews. I see myself as a science oriented person because of the way I use science to figure things out.
 Science was dreadful in high school although the teachers were always the best part, the work seemed like it took way to much time and was to difficult for me. Math is one thing I hate the most in this world and science and math have always gone together which is probably why I will never be a science major. I’m hoping this class can change my view on science through these interesting topics. I’m always looking for new perspectives and this class seems like it could show the different sides to science that not everyone knows about. But who knows maybe by the end of my Penn State career I’ll be a science major.
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I also like to take pictures of sunsets check them out on my instagram. Thanks for reading!

A Source of Inspiration

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As you guys begin the first blogging period, you may be wondering what sources, or how many you need to include in your post. While you don’t want to bog down the class with tons of information, it is actually easier to write a good blog post when using more than one source–you may find yourself summarizing an article if that’s your only source.

I’ve found that two sources per post often work best. And these sources do not have to agree with each other. In fact, I encourage you to find two competing articles, then to draw your own conclusions about which side provided the strongest evidence. You don’t have to be 100% sure that this side is flawless (remember, this class often deals more with questions than concrete answers).

Many news articles and science journals are okay to use, but do try to stay away from sources like Wikipedia–that’s a great starting point, but it’s safer to include more reputable sources. Which yes, you must cite (doesn’t have to be MLA format…just make sure you include links to the articles you’ve mentioned).

And just to get you guys thinking about science, here is one of my favorite YouTubers–Charlieissocoollike–talking about parallel universes:

The Liberal Arts are Important, too.

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Greetings! My name is Sean Kearney, I’m a sophomore, I’m from Chicago, and I’m fascinated by science. I am. I find myself sitting down and watching TED talks on multiple occasions about the weirdest stuff, almost all of it regarding science in some way, shape or form. I love learning about new scientific advancements and what they mean for our world and for me. I’m an information sponge. In fact,here’s some facts about orgasms you probably didn’t know before. Isn’t sex interesting?

As awesome, fascinating, and crucial science is, I’m not interested in pursuing something in the field. My brain rejects math in almost all of its forms (I’m actually pretty good with statistics, mind you), and I cannot stand biology, chemistry or physics. They way they’re taught doesn’t resonate with me, and never will. I took this class because the course description made it sound like I will learn new scientific ideas and concepts
 in a way that does resonate with me.

What does resonate with me is science of a different form-social science, and because of this I just declared my major, a Criminology B.S. I want to become a criminologist and help  society by continuing the study of crime and understanding it. I want to change how we approach law enforcement, and I want to make our country-if not the world-a safer place for it. Too often are people in the college of liberal arts scoffed at for having “useless” majors, to that I say those who believe that don’t understand what kind of impact those in the liberal arts have on their lives.

Those political science majors will be deciding who gets their research funding, no?


                                              eofdreams.com

Wish I was at Zedd instead of writing this blog post

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Hello everyone! My names Brenna and I’m a sophomore here at Penn State. I’m from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and both my parents are Penn State alumni. I’m a communications major and am currently taking classes for telecom, although I am still deciding between pursuing telecom or advertising/public relations.  

To be honest I always sucked at science in high school and actually had to drop a bi sci course I was taking the first semester of my freshman year. Science never really made sense to me and I never found it interesting, which is exactly why I’m not planning on being a science major. If it wasn’t for completing my science gen ed requirements, I would probably be staying far away from all science courses. Just like everyone else who is enrolled in this course, I’m only taking it because I heard from my friends that it was easy. Even though I’m not excited to be taking a science course, I’m more than excited to have a teacher with an accent… Hey Andrew. 
This is my friend Janae who’s also taking this class with me. You can probably find her sitting somewhere on the left side of the classroom near the back so feel free to say hi if you see her… she likes meeting new people.
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Oh and follow me on twitter!

Initial Blog Post

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Hi everyone! My name is Kaitlin Corson and it is my first year here at Penn State. I am majoring in the College of Liberal Arts in the specific major of Criminology. My whole life I’ve wanted to study Criminology and enter a career in law, always with every intention of getting a BA in the major…the option with the least science and math included. I took this course solely because I needed to fulfill credits and it seemed like a simple enough source for a girl who had never succeeded in science. I really had no knowledge at all regarding what this class would be like, yet on a whim, I decided to take it.

I am not planning to be a science major due to my complete lack of skill and interest in the subject. Throughout high school I never had teachers that I could learn that simply from which lead to a less than intriguing class. The subject just never peaked my interest. Beside from that I have been set on my major for longer than I can remember, leaving me without a though of being science major. 
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Well, for a little bit more about me, the picture above is from a trip I took to Europe a few years back with a student ambassador group. France was just one of the six countries we visited, cumulating to one of the best trips of my life. The sites I saw on this trip are some of the most beautiful places I have ever been and it was such a life-changing event. This lead me to now really want to study abroad during my college career. 
Well I will see you all in class on Tuesday! 

This Class Caters to my Needs!

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Hi Everyone!

My name is Megan O’Connell. I’m a sophomore here at Penn State. I am from the great state of Connecticut. I’m super excited to be back in Happy Valley and ready for whatever this semester throws at me!
I’m especially excited for this course because I am very intrigued about the world around us and life in general. I feel that this class is a great fit for me because I struggled a lot in my high school science and math courses, but I always loved learning about the cool stuff that actually had relevance in my life. This is why I’m taking this class, because I’m so eager to learn and actually appreciate science, just not very eager to have to write out a thousand chemical reaction equations. 
I grew up in a family that valued the importance of traveling and eating good food often. Each time we went to a new place, I would always get excited to explore the hotel as well as very intrigued by the culture and food of that country. All of this eventually led me to my decision to me a Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management (HRIM) as well as Spanish major here at Penn State. I grew up cooking my whole life and I absolutely love the joy my culinary creations bring to the faces of my family and friends. I found my passion in life at a very young age, which I am very thankful for. 
I knew I had found my calling in life when I began interning for a local, sustainable and organic catering company this past summer. I got the opportunity to select and pick produce from a local farm and then turn it into delicious, fresh food. I hope that one day, whether I be working in hotels or restaurants, I will be putting what I’ve learned about preparing organic food and living more environmentally friendly to good use. If you’re interested in finding out more about eating local and organic, check out this video on farm-to-table dinners! 
Here’s a picture of me at work in the kitchen!
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