Hi class! I’m Hannah Stern, and I am from Plymouth Meeting PA (right outside of Philadelphia). I plan on majoring in marketing with a minor in statistics in order to go into the field of market research. Therefore, I will admit to a slight appreciation for the data and analysis side of science. The reason I fell in love with the statistics is because my brain is wired to search for reason. I enjoy the challenge of looking for creative insight that will explain one’s curiosity, so much to the point where I did an entire independent research project on statistics which you can check out HERE. This is why I was attracted to SC 200. From the course description, I feel like this course looks at science through a critical and analytical lens similar to statistical reasoning.
However, here is my pitfall with science: you can’t see gravity. You can’t have a conversation with a planet in order to draw conclusions about the universe. In business, you can use insight from other people and past experience to fill the void of the unknown. On the contrary, all of the scientific exposure I have had thus far has been too abstract and uncertain for my mental capacity. After failing my first physics test as a junior in high school, I approached my teacher and said “I am willing to put in as much work and time to succeed in this class, but I am almost positive that my brain just doesn’t work like this.” I studied tirelessly, and stayed after countless hours trying to comprehend concepts that flew so far over my head. It got to the point where my teacher would give me extra online practice problems out of pity to make up for my mediocre test results. In the end, he bumped my grade up to an A for
the insane effort I showed. It was a GPA miracle, but an obvious sign that a science major is not the right path for me. To some people, thinking in circles about the “what if” is fascinating. To me, it’s a headache. In all honestly, when Andrew used the “black cat in a room” analogy to describe science in class on Tuesday, I felt a mini anxiety attack coming on. Science is just not my thing, but I am open minded and excited to build an appreciation for it in SC 200!
Hi Hannah, I see that you are from Plymouth Meeting, which is only down the road from me in King of Prussia. If you went to PW, you probably know my mom who teaches there haha. But totally understand you’re viewpoint on physics, it was definitely a drag on me in high school. Though it was pretty boring, I kinda realized physics was relative to every action I complete, such as lacrosse. Hope you have a good year.
I totally understand your hatred of physics. In high school, I was great at calculus, so I thought physics would be a breeze compared to other sciences, since they’re so intertwined. Man was I wrong! The way my teacher taught the class was awful: he wouldn’t let us in-cooperate calculus into our work, so I was lost. I literally gave up halfway through the year and stopped taking notes. I found this article which gives ten signs about hating physics in high school, and I most definitely identify with all of them.