Personally, I am a sleep fanatic. Its one of my favorite hobbies and one that I have been too busy to pursue lately. However, we know that everyone experiences dreams while they are asleep and often remember them upon waking up. These dreams can sometimes be of events that we have experienced of people we have met or they can be the complete opposite. The privilege that we have when we dream, however, is that we can sometimes remember our dreams and discuss their content with others. But what about babies? Do babies dream even when they have no memories of events or people? I sought to answer this question as it poses an interesting topic for thought.

An article found on Live Science included information from David Foulks who is the world leading expert in pediatric dreaming. Foulks explained that if an organism can perceive reality, then it is prone to imagination and can therefore dream. However, the interesting question that is posed is do babies dream since they have a limited pool of experiences and their brains are still very immature. At this thought Foulks explained that most babies experience a dreamless sleep for the first few years of their lives.

We have all had experiences where we wake up from a dreamless sleep. However, for babies they often display REM sleep which has been proven because researchers can literally see infants rapid eye movements under their eyelids. Dr Charles Pollak described REM behavior as, “an evolutionary old type of sleep that occurs at all life stages, including infancy, and even before infancy, in fetal life.” Now that it has been established that babies do in fact dream, the next major question that I asked was what do babies dream about?

Face of sleeping baby 

In order to answer this question, Dr Pollak related it to trying to determine what your pet dog or cat dreams about. Since we obviously cannot communicate with infants, we will never truly understand or know what they are dreaming about. However, we can assume that it is most likely infantile things. There have been some studies conducted in an attempt to interpret dreams through the REM movements of the eyes. However, this is very difficult to do and only small assumption can be made. For example looking up at a building would be accompanied by vertical eye movement.

Another explanation from Life News explained that a study conducted by scientific research group Roffwarg and Associates began their research believing they would find that babies do not have REM sleep because they do not dream. However, their study led to a rejection of the null hypothesis that there was nothing there as they found that not only do babies dream but they do so on the first day of being born.

In conclusion, babies do, in fact, experience dreams in their sleep. However, they are likely not the same type of dreams that you or I experience but most likely only things an infant would recollect. Although most people understand that dreams are created from past experiences and interactions, they can also come from the simple lives of infants. Science cannot currently understand what exactly babies are dreaming about, but with the enhancement of technology, perhaps one day we can do so.

Growing up there were very few vegetables that I actually enjoyed to eat. However, one vegetable that I would always eat was carrots. Partly because I liked their taste but also because my mom would always say that eating all my carrots would improve my eyesight. This theory was especially appealing to me as a young kid because I’ve always had poor eyesight and I used to hate wearing my glasses. Although I did not realize  at the time that simply eating carrots would not cure my horrendous vision that did not stop me from eating all the carrots on my plate. To this day I still usually eat all my carrots but I have never taken the time to actually look into this interesting topic…until now.

The first interesting piece of information that i found was that this idea stemmed from World War II when the British Air Force said their pilots ate a lot of carrots to help them see their enemies at night. However, it wasn’t the carrots but rather their radar systems. Anyway, carrots do contain a chemical compound called beta-carotene which can contribute to improved health in eye sight. When the body consumes beta-carotene it converts it into vitamin A which is then turned into retinol. The retinol can then be found in the eyes inside vision cells. Although it appears to be a stretch that carrots improve eyesight, they do contribute slightly. This is because that beta-carotene is overall good for eye health.

Another study from HealthDay News agreed that carrots can play a role in assisting eyesight. This study claims that pigments called carotenoids are found in carrots which help give it its orange color. These carotenoids can then help “ward off” age associated vision ailments otherwise known as macular degeneration. This macular degeneration is the most common causes of vision loss especially for the elderly.

According to an article on Scientific America, a study found once again the beta carotene found in carrots can assist in vision. In addition to this finding the question was asked as to how many carrots would need to be eaten to make a difference. One 2005 study found that eating about 4.5 ounces of cooked carrots six days a week would stack up enough vitamin A to address night blindness in pregnant women. However, for most people the number of carrots consumed would vary based upon their current vision.

In order to offer a counter argument regarding carrots and their vision healing powers, another study found that they are not as effective as one would think. This study was also summarized in the article on Scientific America and it explained that once the body has enough beta-carotene, it would stop converting it to vitamin A. This research also found that beta-carotene does not convert into vitamin A very efficiently. Scientists found that from 12-21 molecules of beta-carotene, would only make one molecule of vitamin A.

In conclusion, there is a plethora of evidence supporting the fact that carrots can improve vision. However, it is not to the degree that one would imagine, in that it they will only make minor improvements. As an individual however, these studies are convincing enough for me to include a bit more carrots in my day to day diet. Although there is also studies suggesting that the reasoning behind the improvements of carrots are so minimal that it will not matter. Regardless it is still food for thought and hopefully you will continue to eat ALL your vegetables.

As technology and the world develop, we as a society have grown tremendously. The earths population is increasing rapidly with each passing minute. However, the question that remains unanswered is what will the human population do when the earth can no longer support life? New homes and cities are constantly being expanded upon and there will come a time when there are simply too many people. I personally have heard much talk regarding potential life on other planets such as Mars. However, recently NASA has discovered Earth’s “twin” which is located 1,400 light years away. The name of this twin exoplanet is Kepler-452b.

Earth on the right, Kepler-452b on the left

A recent article from July of 2015 explained that the Kepler mission has found the first near-Earth sized planet otherwise known specifically as Kepler-452b. This planet is also located in what NASA calls a “habitable zone” and orbits a G2 star similarly to the Earth’s sun. The Kepler-452 is also located 1,400 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. According to Jon Jenkins, who was the Kepler data analysis lead researcher, “Kepler-452b is 60 percent larger in diameter than Earth and is considered a super-Earth-size planet.” This scientific discovery I thought was very interesting especially when I read that some scientists are calling this planet an Earth 2.0.

Although the announcement from NASA regarding the discovery of Kepler-452b seems very promising for the future of humans, there are some details that bring this discovery back down to Earth. The first question that I had upon hearing this new was, how long will it take to get there? Well Kepler 452b is 1,400 light-years away from the Earth and each light-year is 5.88 trillion miles which would take around a millennium and a half to reach if a rocket were traveling at the speed of light. That is about 1500 years which would not happen anytime in our lifetime. Many have said that NASA might have over exaggerated the discovery of this exoplanet similar to the Earth.

Electronic illustration of the surface of Kepler-452b

Another question that comes to mind is what would the living conditions be on Kepler 452b? Above is an illustration of what researcher thing the planet would look like. However, physically getting to the planet will not happen during our lifetime. One interesting fact is that since Kepler is more massive than earth, its surface gravity is much stronger than the pull people are used to here. This means that on this new planet, an individual would feel twice as heavy. Jenkins however, said that the humans would adapt to this change and become stronger over time.

In conclusion, there is still much to be studied regarding what life on another planet would truly be like. In my opinion, NASA might have made a bigger deal than necessary for this particular announcement because there is not much that can be done regarding traveling to this exoplanet. However, it does pose much thought as to what can be done to preserve life on earth. Although there are other planets out there, science has yet to discover one in reach that can be inhabited. We as a human race have been fortunate to live on the Earth for as long as we have and it is crucial that we continue to take care of our home.

Throughout my childhood I grew up with video games constantly at my disposal. At a relatively young age, many of those video games that I enjoyed to play featured violent behavior. My brothers and I would play games such as Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto which included high amounts of war and brutality. Looking back on this today, I would say that I am not a violent person But the games played when I was young were also not as advanced as they are today. The children of today are also beginning to be exposed to this genre of video games at an even younger age than ever before. When I am able to see my younger family members, I can’t help but notice that these kids are very aggressive individuals. The linking variable that these young kids have is that they all enjoy to play the same violent video games. With that being said, I sought to answer the question as to whether or not correlation does or does not, in fact, equal causation. Do violent video games make kids more aggressive?

After performing research, it quickly became obvious that violent video games are not linked directly to acts of violence. However, there is still the possibility that they do make minor influences on individuals that could grow over time. One interesting article from Scientific American, revealed that weeks after the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, investigators found a GPS in the car of Adam Lanza (the shooter). On that GPS was a location that Lanza would visit every night and stay for hours. Upon arrival, investigators learned that the location was a movie theater, and employees recognized Lanza’s photo. The odd finding was that Lanza never went to watch movies but rather to play a video game. One would think that the game would be a shooting game but oddly enough, the game was Dance Dance Revolution. This is an example of an extremely violent individual who obsessed over playing a video game that is the opposite of a violent game.

Although it is currently accepted that video games do not encourage and aggressive or violent behavior, there is still more studies to be conducted. This is especially important because video games are becoming more realistic each day. In addition, kids are beginning to be exposed to these games at a younger age each year. These young kids with still developing brains regarding the understanding of right and wrong can easily be influenced.

There was one study that was conducted which sought to study the long term effects of exposure to violent video games as well as television. This study found that adolescents who were exposed to violent television were more likely to experience adult aggression. This study included a sample size of 707 families and took place across 17 years. This study also accounted for childhood neglect, family income, neighborhood violence, parental education and psychiatric disorders. This is crucial to the study because it allowed the researchers to eliminate some very strong confounding variables.

Another experiment was conducted at Ohio State University and should be taken into consideration due to its elimination of another variable. Many experiments regarding the link between violent video games and aggression measure aggression immediately after gameplay. While, in contrast, this experiment measured the long term effects. The experiment was conducted by having participants flip a coin determining whether the game they would play for twenty minutes was violent or not. Within each group, half of the participants ruminated about the game. The next day participants competed with an opponent in a competitive task where the winner was allowed to punch the loser with noise blasts with headphones. The results were that violent video games increased aggression even 24 hours after game play but only among men who ruminated. Rumination keeps those thoughts feeling of violence active and the results of this study show that they stick with the player hours after playing games.

boy and a girl playing video game — Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis

In conclusion, it is currently accepted that violent video games do not trigger aggressive behavior. However, there are still more studies to be conducted of the long term affects of these games. Although there is no evidence supporting the damages of violent games, it should not prevent parents from taking minor courses of action. Simple changes such as limiting children’s playing time and monitoring the games kids are playing can be done to promote overall health. When I was a kid playing outside with my siblings and friends was always much more appealing than sitting inside on a video game. Today, that mindset has changed and kids are choosing to spend entire days inside.

The idea of completing schoolwork while listening to music is simply second nature to me. Whether I’m getting ready to study for an exam or write a paper the first thing I do is throw on my headphones and find something to listen to. However, this has led me to ask the question as to whether or not this method of working is effective. As a student, I am always seeking the most efficient and effective way to complete my work and for me, music has helped me at times but hurt me at others. I have had experiences where I have put some music on and completed my work in a few hours. However, in contrast, there have also been times when I have struggled for hours to simply begin a paper. This raises the question of whether or not music improves academic performance. A question I decided was well worth looking into as the results will directly benefit any student who also enjoys to listen to music while completing schoolwork.

A study  was conducted at the University of Wales which sought to determine how background music affects students ability to complete tests of recollection. This study can be very similar to a student studying for an exam with background music. In this study, students were given a recollection test in five different scenarios. The first was a quiet environment the second was a “steady rate” speech which meant a single word was playing the entire duration of the test. The third was “changing rate” speech where the numbers one through nine were repeated throughout. While the fourth was with music that the student liked and the fifth was with disliked music. In this particular study none of the students liked metal so that was played during the fifth test. The results of the study was that there was no significant difference in test scores with the liked music, disliked music, and changing state speech. However, the test scores were significantly higher when the students worked in a quiet environment as well as during the “steady rate” speech. This means that students will work most effectively in a quiet environment in contrast with working with music. This experiment also resulted in a rejection of the original null hypothesis which was that “changing rate” speech would yield the lowest test results. Although this study provides a strong reason to take out your headphones when it comes to academic work, another study was conducted that found another interested result.

This study conducted a similar experiment on students attention and focus with music as a background noise. However, these results were slightly different. Although the students with music playing in the background did result in lower test scores, their scores were all varied! This means that although music generally yields lower academic performance, it various from person to person. I believe that this means that more research must now be conducted in order to study factors such as genre or whether or not the student is accustomed to completing work with music. Another factor that was not accounted for in these two studies was the fact that the music had lyrics. Through my experience, I have found that working with music without lyrics has made me much more productive.

A study conducted at the University of Dayton found that students performed much better with music playing that did not have lyrics. This study was conducted with 56 male and female students from the University by having them complete a standardized test while fast-tempo music without lyrics played in the background. The results of the study suggest that background music without vocals can have positive effects on cognitive performance.

So in conclusion, listening to music while completing academic work really varies based upon the person. There are a number of confounding variables that come into play when it comes to measured academic activity with background music. Variables such as tempo, genre, volume, length, and whether or not the person is accustomed to listening to music all play a role in determining how well the student performs. One factor, however, that remained consistent was that working in a quiet environment resulted in the best results. Therefore it can be said with confidence that the best way to complete school work is without any background noises. However, there are still much more studies that need to be conducted in order to fully understand whether or not music assists students while completing academic work.

In today’s society, teens around the world are growing up with their smartphone close by their side. One could enter any room and immediately find a handful of teens glued intently to the screens of their phones. I have nothing against smartphones and I believe them to be a useful tool, especially in the hands of students. However, they can also be as much of a distraction as they are assistance. The question arises as to whether or not these device can be harmful to students and what the costs of these distractions does to their ability to socialize and perform simple tasks. With the ability to simply Google any question one might have, the ability to problem solves can easily be forgotten. I am also sure that everyone has experienced a time when they thought their phone buzzed in their pocket but it didn’t. These types of issues are where I drew my curiosity about this topic. With that being said, I turned to science to answer questions regarding what our future has in store with the growing presence of technology.

The constant use of cell phones can easily have a negative effect on students. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, “75% of all teenagers in America now carry a mobile phone as well as 58% of twelve year olds.” This statistic is overwhelmingly high especially when compared to the past years. The study also revealed that girls are typically more involved with their cell phone than boys. However, there remains the question of how much technology is too much. It serves, as a way for teens to avoid forms of physical communication and that will only harm them come adulthood. These devices can also serve as serious distractions. In class earlier in the week, we discussed the fact that humans cannot multitask. With that being said, teens are unable to do anything else when they are attending to their phones. This creates even more danger especially when they take out their phones in untimely situations such as while operating a car. We also discussed in class about the risks that a student runs when they continuously check their phone in class. The risk of harming ones grade can be less important to some students than a simple text message.

Psychologist Zachery Roper conducted a study at the University of Iowa where he worked with two groups of volunteers. One group was made up of 13-16 year olds and the other was made up of 20-35 year old adults. In this study, a computer displaying six circles in a different color trained each individual. The person was tasked with finding the red or green circles which either had a horizontal or vertical line inside and the other circles had lines at different angles inside them. Then once the person found the circle they would press either a key to report they found a vertical line or a key to report it was horizontal. The volunteers had unknowingly learned the values of each color, as they would receive a reward for correctness.

After the training, the volunteers were asked to perform a new goal. They had to record the angle of a line inside a blue diamond while another group of six symbols appeared on the screen. Only one symbol was a diamond and the others were circles and sometimes those circles were red or green again. What was found was that the adults were able to perform this task much more efficiently than the group of teens. The adult group also began to ignore the color aspect while the teen group struggled to do so. Another aspect to this second trial was that no reward was given out for correctness. The study concluded that teens react differently and are drawn to rewarding information. In similarity, some activity such as texting or using social media can trigger a reward system within the brain. Once the young brain has linked that reward system it will continue to seek it out which can explain the addiction to smartphones.

Now one key question is how would someone then overcome this intense desire to constantly check his or her phone. In my opinion and the opinion of others, the best way is to remove the devise from the equation whenever possible. This means put it away when doing homework or leave it in a bag during class. The more that a teen can stay disengaged from their phone, the less interested they will become in the information it offers. I can also say that personally whenever I view my phone the information is never anything that couldn’t wait until another time. So the next time you think you hear your phone buzz in class, just wait, because your education is much more rewarding than whatever your phone might have to offer.

Can you remember where you were on this exact day one year ago? How about five years ago? The human brain has a remarkable ability to remember events from the past in vivid detail but it can also just as easily forget. When it comes to preparing for exams, some students, such as myself, can struggle to commit material to memory. The human ability to maintain memories is a topic that has always amazed me. I can recall stories from when I was a young kid with perfect detail. While, in contrast, there are times in my life where I cannot remember a single detail. How does this work? How does the brain decide what to remember and what to forget? Are all our memories inside our brain somewhere? These types of questions are ones that I asked which has led me creating this particular blog post.

First, it is essential to understand what exactly is memory. One aspect to understand is that memory is not an actual “thing” like our hair or our brain but rather a concept, which refers to the process of remembering. Experts today believe that memory is not located in one particular place in the brain but rather throughout the brain. The idea behind memories is that they are attached to our senses and our experiences in our own lives. For example, there are many senses that are attached to our memories of the beach such as scents or sounds. Another example that is given in the link above is that of riding a bike. When one rides a bike, the memory of how to operate the bike comes from one area of the brain while the information about how to get from point A to B comes from elsewhere. However, scientists appear to still be unsure exactly how the system works. There has yet to be an understanding about what occurs during periods of recollection.

The idea of long-term memory is one that I find especially interesting, as it is amazing that humans can remember so many details from so long ago. Short-term memories can be made into long-term simply through rehearsal and meaningful association. Long-term memory involves a physical change in the structure of neurons within the brain. In laymen terms, these neurons form circuits, where these neurons are then transmitted to the brain in a connection to the visual, auditory, associative cortexes of the brain. However, once again scientists are still unclear about many aspects of the process. The process of forgetting occurs when these neural circuits are weakened or when other memories “over-lap” which can overtake older memories.

But what happens to forgotten memories? An article in the New York Times explains exactly that. The article explains that scientists have two different theories. One theory is that these memories do not simply go away but rather are overshadowed by other memories but still somewhere nonetheless. The other is that older memories become weaker and that learning new information, such as passwords, degrades the old memories so that they do not interfere. An article from Nature Neuroscience explains an experiment conducted by scientists in Birmingham and Cambridge involving 24 participants. The participants were first trained to associate words to two unrelated black and white ordinary scenes from lists of famous people. Then they were given a cue word and asked to remember the image they had previously been trained to link to that word so that the image would become a memory. The scientists performed this test several times sprinkling each cue word into the test. The conclusion of the study was that as people began to develop new memories, the competing memories become weaker. They also performed further studies that found that therapeutic applications of memory could assist in weakening fears, such as snakes, from individual’s minds.

In conclusion, the human memory is a remarkable aspect of life that still remains somewhat mysterious to scientists. Although we have obtained an understanding of some areas of memory, there is still much more to be learned. Through rehearsal of different memories or experiences one can continue to remember them in detail. Another great way to make sure no important memory is lost is by writing them down somewhere. It is a topic that will continue to occupy the world of science and stretches on as long as long as it can be remembered.

Every day we as individuals are faced with crossroads in which we make hundreds of decisions. Sometimes, these decisions are made in a matter of seconds. These split second choices can be credited to our instincts, which according to the dictionary are, “an innate, typically fixed pattern of behavior in animals in response to certain stimuli.” We can all recall times in our lives when we had a “gut feeling” about something or we just knew what the right answer was with no further explanation. The use of instinct can be especially helpful when it comes test time as we can often determine some answers without truly understanding the question. However, many people (myself included) will go back through tests and change some answers that were originally derived from instincts. The question is then posed as to how accurate are the human instincts? Can they truly make the difference when it comes to taking tests? There have been many studies conducted in order to answer those types of questions. I have heard the phrases “go with your gut” and “don’t change your answer” on multiple occasions and can say that this advice rarely has led me astray. However, there are, in fact, conflicting opinions as to whether or not this is a successful method of making choices.

The findings of a study regarding human instincts was published in a Journal called, Nature Neuroscience, and I found an article on Live Science which gave further evidence about the topic.  A study was conducted at Beckman Institute in order to further understand the accuracy of human decision making when it is made in seconds. For this study, individuals were given a two part memory test. For the first part, they were shown a progression of images in which the individuals attempted to memorize without any distraction. However, for the second part, they were shown these similar images but they also listened to number in which they had to decide whether or not he numbers were even or odd. The study later had each person view a series of the same images and they had to select the old images. The results of this study were that people were able to select the image when they had been distracted better than when they paid full attention. According to the study, “they were more accurate when they claimed to be guessing than when they registered familiarity to the image” In other words, this study proved that making split decisions based upon ones gut instinct proved to be more accurate than attempting to reason through. This can be applied to student lives when taking a test. When a student comes upon a question that they are unfamiliar with, this study suggests that it is better to go with their gut answer, rather than try to recall what they might think is correct.

This might raise the question as to what exactly the brain does when it comes to making these split second decisions. Surely the information is somewhere inside your brain if you are able to answer the question correctly in a matter of seconds. During tests of memory, the brain waves during implicit recognition are recognizably different than the brain waves of making conscious memory decisions. Another study suggested that those who have suffered from amnesia problems have a stronger sense of implicit memories. I found another article on Psychology Today which explains that a very large majority of people will sear by their gut instinct. Theses people claim that their gut has never led them wrong and apply this philosophy heavily when it comes to test taking. Although many people agree that their instinct are usually correct, can there be a contradicting audience?

There have also been a number of studies conducted in order to prove that making decisions based upon ones instinct is not accurate. An article by Melissa Dahl in New York Magazine, used examples from a study conducted at Cornell University to exercise this conflicting view point. The study at Cornell provided information that when students go back on their original answers and reason their way through them, they typically change them to the correct answer. This study suggested that taking the time to think through an answer is a much more reasonable approach to answering questions. Another example can be derived from todays class discussion in which we spoke about the dangers that doctors caused to their patients based upon practices that were strictly based upon instinct. The example of bleeding out patients showed a clear depiction of how human instincts can be dangerously wrong and lead to harmful consequences.

When it comes to test day going with your instinct can be a true game of chance. There is evidence supporting both sides of the spectrum regarding whether or not your first instinct is the right answer. My personal outtake from this information is that going with your gut is a strong approach to questions that one cannot remember. However, when finished with a test, it can be beneficial to review test answers and strongly reason ones way through questions that were based upon instinct. However, when it comes to changing your answers it is crucial to be certain that you know your original answer is incorrect. So the next time you are taking a test be sure to always go with you gut! But be sure to go back and review just to be safe.

When it comes to preparing for exams I can admit that there have been times when I have neglected to allot the necessary study time in order to be successful. However, despite the misallocation of study time, I have on occasion, done well on particular tests without studying properly. The question then arises as to how and where this unpredicted success came from? I’m sure that all of us can relate to this situation and tell a story of a time when we received a favorable surprise result on a test we surely expected to fail. One philosophy that I often carry with me on test day is the phrase “dress well, test well”. Regardless of how prepared I am I often find that I dress for success when it comes to test taking. In spite of the fact that this may seem rather unrelated, what if dressing well did have a direct correlation with test results for students who failed to study?

Although this idea is difficult to test, there have been experiments performed in an effort to prove whether or not dressing well equates to academic success. Northwestern professor Adam D. Galinsky conducted an experiment in order to test the hypothesis that dressing well allows students to achieve success on test day. One important aspect to this experiment is that Galinsky chose clothing based upon how it is symbolized and perceived. In this study, Galinsky chose lab coats which are generally associated with doctors and with that caution and intelligence. In order to conduct this experiment, Galinsky performed two separate tests. In the first, he divided students into two groups and told them to wear either a white doctors lab coat or regular street clothes. He then had both groups perform a test of focus and mental clarity. His findings were that those in lab coats did significantly better than those in street clothes.

In his second test, Galinsky  took 74 students and divided them into three different groups. The first group was given white lab coats and told they were doctors coats, the second was given the same coats and told they were painters coats and the third simply looked at the “doctors” coats. The students then completed a test were they quickly wrote down differences between two pictures. The results were that the students in the doctors coats performed far better than the other two groups. Although this experiment specifically focused on test results when wearing a white doctors coat, it illustrates that clothing that symbolizes intelligence and prestige improve test results. This can then be further assumed that it correlates with wearing a suit or other luxury clothes that are associated with success. Much of this experiment was summarized by Carmel Lobello in an article providing a scientific argument to dress nicer at work.

In order to further provide evidence that dress can influence test results, an experiment was conducted by Professor Tracy L. Morris at West Virginia University. In her experiment, Morris had three individuals dress in either business professional (suit and tie), business casual (dress shirt and tie) or casual (jeans and and sneaker). She then had each individual give a controlled lecture to a group of students and afterwards asked the students what their perception of each speaker was. The results were that students believed that the speaker in business professional was most knowledgable about the lecture. This experiment strongly proves that dress can give others an enhanced perception of someone despite their level of intelligence. This can prove to be useful in a test situation because it could provide confidence to the test taker that might not be present if they were wearing sweats and an old T-shirt. 

It it practical to say that dressing in clothes that symbolize success and confidence will help improve students ability to perform well on tests. However, it still remains indeterminate as to what exact clothes will do the trick. This is because clothes that symbolize these characteristics vary based upon the perception of the individual. Although a suit and tie might be the epitome of success to one person, it could be the opposite for another. However, regardless of what one may think is “successful” clothing, it can be said that wearing clothes that one is most comfortable in is the best approach when it comes to test day. So the next time you are thinking about lazily showing up to class on test day, think again and put on something that you are both comfortable and confident in. Whether you are prepared or not it can’t hurt to try.

Hello everyone! My name is Alex Beitel and I am currently a member of the Division of Undergraduate Studies with the intention of majoring in Marketing. I am from Chester Springs, PA which is about three hours away from Penn State.

I am doing this class for a number of reasons, but primarily because of my lack of interest in science itself. Over the course of my high school career, I was progressively turned away from science due to poor teachers as well as the fact that I never excelled in any areas of the subject. The specific area of science regarding memorizing material and formulas was also an aspect I struggled with and was glad to learn that that was not the case in this class. I have also heard many good reviews of this class from both my peers and advisors and it appears very fascinating and unique.

I am not planning to be a science major essentially because it is a subject that does not interest me. I am much more captivated by the study of business. Although I have an appreciation for science, it is a particular subject that never grabbed my attention. I am however, interested in the conceptual ideas that fall under the science category and after reviewing the syllabus for this class, I am glad that I am enrolled in it.

Although I am sad that summer is over I am excited to be here at Penn State. Here is a picture I took over the summer during my visit to Seattle, WA of the space needle with a sculpture from Chihuly glass next door.

Also if you are ever in need of any motivation this semester, here is some wise words from Shia LaBeouf.