KeiryHiraldo

April11,2016

HowIHaveGrownasaScientist

Allmylifesciencehasbeenmyfavoritesubject,itfascinatedmelearningaboutthe
structureofhumans,plants,spaceandsoon.InElementarySchoolsciencewasmoreabout
observingandtestingthingsout,throughMiddleschoolandnowinHighSchoolscienceismore
aboutcriticalthinkinganditinvolvesalotofmath.InMiddleSchoolIdidn'tmindthemath,but
whenitcametoHighSchoolPhysicsIwasveryoverwhelmed.Physicswasn'teasyforme,
beforehighschoolIneverexperiencedlabsthatinvolvedcriticalthinkingandalotofprecise
steps.Itwasabigtransitionfrom8thgradesciencetoPhysicsIhadtoadapttotheclassand
learnallthethingsthatIwasn'texposedtobefore.Istartedoftheyearbadly,becauseontopof
notknowingwhatbasicthingslikewritingacompletelabwas,itwasalsodifficultformeto
incorporatemathandotherskillsintoscience.Ithoughtphysicswasgoingtoinvolvemore
building,creatingandtestingexperiments,butitwasmorereading,problemsolvingand
understandingthings.Ithoughtphysicswasmoreaboutdynamicsandhowthingslikemotors,
electricityandrocketshipswork.Ilearnedthatitinvolvesthemechanicsofnotonlythesethings
butalsotheearth,radiometricdatingandNewton'sLaws.
Freshmenyearconsistedalotofdifferent,heavymaterial,whichIstruggledwith
understanding.Welearnedaboutplatetectonics,tohowtogenerateenergywithawindturbine
ormotor.Wedidalotofobservationswithrocks,soilandthegroundtodeterminecertainthings
likehowoldthematerialis,whatisitmadeofandthebenefitsofit.AlthoughIenjoyedthe
handsonpartofPhysics,whatIstruggledwithwasputtingtheinformationandsummarizingit
inalaboressay.MyartfactfromfreshmenyearthatIbelieveshowstremendousgrowthwas
thefirstlabIhaveeverwritten.Wekickedofffreshmenyearbydoingasimplelababout
pennieswehadtopredicthowmuchwaterdifferentcoinscouldholduntilthewaterspilledout.
Thelabwasprettyfun,anditwasfascinatingtoseethedomeofwaterthatsatonthepenny
withoutspillingout.Wewerethengivenan
ExperimentalDesignReferenceSheet,w
hichwe
weretousetoputourfindingstogetherinaprofessionalway.Ihadneverwrittenahypothesis,
letaloneseenanexperimentaldesignsheetbefore.IgotextremelyoverwhelmedwhenIsaw
the4pagesofworkIhadtocompleteaboutputtingwateronpennies.Ididn'tfollowthestepsor
askedforhelp,soIjustendedupdoingwhatIthoughtIshoulddoandreflectedonthelab.I
basicallyskippedmorethanhalfoftheexpectationsforthelab,anditturnedouttobepoorly
done.Asmorelabsweredonethroughouttheschoolyear,themoreproficientIbecamewith
creatinglabreports.Creatinglabsnotonlyallowedmetodocumentmywork,butitalsoallowed
metothinkmorecriticallyobservewhatwashappeninginthelab.Criticalthinkingand
observationisn'tsomethingyouonlyapplyinscience,butitcanalsobeappliedinotherclasses
andinreallife,whichIfindmyselfdoingoftennow.
NowasaSophomoreIcansayIamexemplarwithwritinglabs.Environmental
Chemistryconsistentofalotofgroupworkandtestingexperimentsinlabs.DuetothisIwas
abletopracticenotonlycreatinglabreports,butalsoimportantskillslikecriticalthinking,
observing,communicationandcollaboration.InChemistrywelearnedaboutatoms,solubilityof

sucrose,elementbondingandsoon.Formostofthesetopicswecreatedlabstogetthehands
onexperienceandactuallyseethingsinaction.Forexample,wewatcheddifferentsucroseslike
saltandsugardissolveinwaterofdifferenttemperatures.ThelabIbelievewasthemost
exemplarandreallyshowstremendousgrowthfromFreshmenyearismy
ComposterDesign
Model
labandexperiment.Theexpeditionforoursecondsemesterinvolvedwaste
managementandhowwecanbecomemoresustainableasacommunity.InChemistryandour
othercoreclasseswelearnedandresearchedalotaboutdifferentwastemethods.Wealso
learnedabouttheworldwideissuewearehavingwithhowwemanageourwasteandthe
amountweareproducing.ForourfinalproductinchemistryasidefromtheWasteSolution
Summit,wewereassignedtocreatecompostersorbiogasdigesters.Thesemodelswereto
serveasanexampletoothersonhowwecancutdowntheamountofwasteweareputtinginto
thelandfills.Ichosetocreateacomposterbecauseitissomethinganyonecandoathome,
anditisagreatwaytorepurposeyourfoodscraps.Mymodelwasverysuccessfulandthereis
currentlynutrientfilledsoilbeingcreated,withthehelpsofwormsandmicroorganisms.Along
withthemodel,wehadtocreateaninformationpackedlabreport.Wehadtheoptiontowork
withapartner,butIdecidedtoworkalonewhichputmoreworkinmyhands.Myfinalreport
wasproficient,butIdidn'twanttosettleforthat.ItooktheextrastepandaskedmyteacherifI
couldmakethenecessaryedits.Imadetheeditsandmylabwasexemplar,thismademevery
proudofmyselfforalltheeffortIputinandnotsettlingdownforaproficientgrade.NowIam
abletolookbackandseethegrowthIhadfromFreshmenyeartoSophomoreyear.Ifeel
extremelyproudofmyselffortakingthatopportunity.