This post will be predominately geared towards two groups of people;
those who are presently in college or those who are looking to go to
college. I have the people that have been in my study groups in
chemistry, math, and physics in mind, but this applies to everyone
going to college. With all degree programs, there are two important
mentalities to have while going through with it: You have to have
insatiable curiosity for the subject, and you have to love the
subject. Without these two frames of thought, you will make your
academic and professional careers a living nightmare.
The vast majority of the students in all of my classes – this
semester and in every semester for the past couple of years – have
not had the curiosity required to be actually successful in these
classes. Now let me stop here to explain what I mean by successful.
In my mind, successful is more than merely the grade, though don't
get me wrong; the grade is a part of it. A bigger part of success in
a class, in my mind anyway, is the concept of actually understanding
the material in question. Having an understanding enough to be able
to ask the question “How am I going to use this in my career?”
and actually being able to answer that question for yourself. To follow me doing this for myself, go to my usefulness tracker.
For example, for my Associates
of Science in Chemistry, I was required to take Physics 180, 181, and
182. I understand 180 because it is a prerequisite for the other two
physics courses.
Physics 181 is electromagnetism, and I have answered the question of
how it applies to Chemistry for myself. Chemistry is the study of
turning matter into other matter. For instance, turning gasoline and
oxygen into carbon dioxide and water vapor is turning matter
(gasoline and oxygen) into other matter (carbon dioxide and water).
Studying these interactions requires the study of how electrons flow
in the system. All chemical reactions depend on electron flow.
Which is, basically speaking, electric current. Used for changing
matter instead of coursing through electronics, but still electric
current. Because of this, the study of electromagnetism is vital to
having an intimate understanding of chemistry.
Physics 182 is predominately the study of waves, thermodynamics, and
fluid dynamics. If I were to not try to understand how this class
applies to chemistry, than it would have been the death of me. Alas,
I realized almost immediately that thermodynamics and fluid dynamics
are integral to chemistry, the prior because chemistry primarily
deals with the thermodynamics of molecules. The higher the energy
released, the more likely it is to be spontaneous, stuff of that
nature. A lot of chemical reactions also occur is a fluid state,
namely liquid. Waves also are important, because of the wave
mechanics of the electrons which are of vital importance to
chemistry.
I also loved these classes, because of how well it allows me to study
the world. I have a running joke about how science is a cruel
mistress. The reason for the mistress part is because I love her,
and I love how I can use her to satiate my need to study the world
around me scientifically. My life would be far less interesting if I
were unable to do so. This love allowed me to have a vast curiosity
on the subjects.
Therefore, I consider my study of these courses to be successful, not
only because of my grades in these courses, but also because of how
well I was able to integrate these classes with my eventual goals and
how much I liked them. These combined gave me the curiosity required
to get through them and integrate them into my realm of existence
successfully. I felt I had to, for the sake of the success of my
career.
Now, out of the students in my classes for the past couple of years,
I consider myself the second most “successful” student under the
guidelines I have outlined here. The only student I have to say is
more successful than I is a theoretical physics major. He is more
enthusiastic about theoretical physics than I about chemistry. For
those of you who know me well, you know that this is saying a lot.
For those of you poets in Las Vegas familiar with some of my more
science-oriented poems, you know how well versed I am in science and
explaining it. This is by far THE biggest reason for how I am able
to do so. Insatiable curiosity, a love for it, and asking how it
will affect my life and career in a way that I will answer it for
myself. This is why I consider myself successful in my course-load.
For those of you who are in college right now – or those who are
making plans to go to college – it is important for you to select a
degree program which you love. Otherwise, you will not be fully
successful in school or in your career by the above standards. You
might get high grades, or high income, but you will be unhappy and
far too stressed out, not being able to figure out what some courses
have to do with your field of choice until it is way too late.
If you are unable to decide weather a path is correct for you, I have
this piece of advice. If you ask the question “How am I going to
use this in my career?” expecting someone other then yourself to
answer it for you, then you are seeking the wrong path. This
mentality shows that you are not curious enough or interested enough
to like the career path you are pursuing.
So, my prompt for all of you pursuing a college degree is this:
Look through the course sets for all of the possible degree programs
available to you. Find the degree programs which you are least prone
to the above mentality. Determine for yourself which of these degree
programs are best suited for you. Namely, which of these degree
programs would lead you to a most satisfying career based upon the
course loads of the degrees. This is a good prompt to use a "Lab Notebook" (see my forth post, The Importance of the Lab Notebook).
I hope you have learned something today. Until next time, don't
forget to be awesome.
-K. “Alan” Eister Δαβ
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