Hello Everybody!,

My name is Mark Shultz, and I am a senior marketing major in the Smeal College of Business with minors in theatre and economics. On campus, my major activities are Blue Band (look for me on gamedays – I’m the first one out of the tunnel!) and Penn State Thespians.

There are two major reasons why I am taking this course. First of all, it sounds much less painful and much more practical than the majority of the other GN classes. (The quirky names science professors give their classes to entice students to enroll are often cute, but always reek of desperation.) But secondly, I want to become more “science literate”, to borrow Andrew’s term, so I can dig a little deeper into scientific conversation with my girlfriend, who just entered her first year of medical school this fall. I know my technical knowledge of the sciences will likely never be quite up to speed with a science major’s, but learning some off-the-wall fun facts – and I do love my fun facts – could allow me to drop some unexpected knowledge bombs in a conversation. 

As for why I decided not to major in the sciences… Science was always my favorite suject throughout elementary. In particular, Mr. Kase in 6th grade stands out as an excellent educator. We would have a number of mini-labs in class throughout the year where we examined things such as the Doppler Effect or liquid density. Although we probably couldn’t explain much of the technicalities about what we were doing, we were surely discovering the world around us through the lens of science. 

That all changed in middle and high school. My natural curiosity was buried under a pile of numbers and terms for which the practical use was never adequately explained. Fields where my creativity and logic skills were more readily used jumped to my attention. I saw marketing as a potential avenue to a career in the arts industry – even as a man who doesn’t necessarily possess professional-level musical talent. So far, all has been going to plan: I just completed a summer internship with Disney Theatrical Group, on Broadway, where I helped the marketing and planning of “The Lion King” national tour. I can’t say I am disappointed with my major choice so far, but I am hoping to at least gain more of an appreciation for the sciences through this class.

So that’s all for now! Since I need a live link, and I’m on a major Instagram kick lately, feel free to follow me here: http://instagram.com/mjs5842 . I hope all of your semesters are off to a great start, and I can’t wait to meet you all.