Hello SC 200, I am Arunima Sthapak, a freshman studying in the Smeal College of Business, working towards a finance major. I was born and brought up in India, however, I have been living in Hong Kong for the past four years.
Up until the time of applications in my senior year of high school, I was debating between choosing Engineering or Finance as my major in university. I have always had an inclination towards science, as a result of which I pursued AP Physics in my junior year. Unfortunately, I came to know that I wasn’t very good at it. I did great on the Math portions but had a hard time with the concepts. So I decided to give up on the idea of engineering and moved towards a major in the field of economics. It was a subject that I both liked and was good at (seemed like the most practical option).
As for this course, I chose it because one, I needed the credit and two because it gave me a way to stay connected with my interest in science without having to deal with the very technical stuff. I am particularly fascinated with the science behind outer space. What it’s like outside of our galaxy, is it possible to have a parallel universe?

One of the most interesting things that I just saw has to do with the facial expressions of the sun. From the looks of it, it seems as though the sun has an anxious looking expression, but as we dig deeper, it can all be explained by the sun’s magnetic field and solar activity. Is the sun really nervous?

Other than outer space I also have quite an interest in answering questions about the origins of things. I took a world history course in high school and simply loved knowing the history of mankind, from Lucy to Donald Trump. How did we get here? With the same fascination, I love learning about the origins of other things in our world. Earth, plants, technology, I’d like to know the history and science behind them all. So that’s why I chose this course. Seeing that we don’t have a fixed syllabus I’m hoping that we will get to touch on some of the topics that fascinate me.