Samantha Brucia

Reflection Essay

In reflection on my Skittles project and my overall Math 1040 experience I would say I

have learned a lot. I have never been good at math and have had a hard time finding it applicable

in my life. I am a nurse, and I plan to be in the medical field until I die. I love my job and I love

the why behind what I do. I love the science behind illness and disease, and math does not really

seem to have a place in my career aside from dosage calculations and drip rates.

While enrolled in this class I also took microbiology this summer. This class I found

applicable to my career, and towards the end we began talking about disease statistics, and

reading morbidity and mortality weekly reports from the CDC. This is when it all clicked for me.

Specifically when reading an article on measles outbreaks and the statistics on that since we

“eliminated the disease” in 2000. It showed that people who are unvaccinated are traveling

outside the country and bringing back measles, and this is affecting the unvaccinated population

here in the US. Understanding statistics and taking these classes together allowed me to have a

better understanding of microbiology and to have a better understanding of my job.

Knowing how to be critical of these reports and understanding the math behind it could

benefit me in my career. Being able to read these reports on statistics of disease processes and

the public adds another piece to the puzzle behind the why. Why are people getting these

illnesses and how many are getting them and how has this changed over time? I find this

especially interesting when looking at vaccines. Understanding statistics helps me to argue that

vaccines save lives and allows me to show proof that all of this medical research that is being

done and all these vaccines we created have helped people to live longer and helps us eradicate

disease.