Reflective Essay

AS I APPROACH THE END OF MY 12TH-GRADE ACADEMIC YEAR, I AM TAKING

TIME TO CONTEMPLATE THE SUBJECT OF GENERAL PHYSICS. THE COURSE
HAS PRESENTED ME WITH CHALLENGES, BUT IT HAS ALSO BEEN INCREDIBLY
ENRICHING, AS IT HAS REQUIRED ME TO DEVELOP MY CRITICAL THINKING
AND PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS IN WAYS I NEVER THOUGHT I COULD.

INITIALLY, I HELD CERTAIN ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE NATURE OF PHYSICS

WHEN I FIRST ENROLLED IN THIS COURSE. I HAD A CONCEPTION OF PHYSICS
AS BEING PRIMARILY ABOUT MATHEMATICAL EQUATIONS AND FORMULAS,
AND WHILE THIS ASPECT OF THE SUBJECT IS CERTAINLY TRUE, I SOON
REALIZED THAT IT ENCOMPASSED MUCH MORE THAN THAT. PHYSICS IS A
SUBJECT THAT SEEKS TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURAL WORLD, FROM THE
TINIEST PARTICLES TO THE LARGEST STRUCTURES IN THE UNIVERSE. IT'S A
SUBJECT THAT IS CONSTANTLY EVOLVING AS NEW DISCOVERIES ARE MADE,
AND THAT IS WHAT MAKES IT SO FASCINATING.

DURING THE DURATION OF THIS COURSE, I HAVE ACQUIRED KNOWLEDGE

ABOUT THE ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES THAT DICTATE THE OPERATIONS OF THE
PHYSICAL WORLD. I HAVE DELVED INTO SUBJECTS SUCH AS MECHANICS,
THERMODYNAMICS, ELECTROMAGNETISM, AND OPTICS, AMONG OTHERS.
EACH OF THESE TOPICS HAS PRESENTED ME WITH UNIQUE CHALLENGES,
FROM COMPREHENDING THE COMPLEXITIES OF MOTION AND FORCES TO
GRASPING THE COMPLEX RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ELECTRICITY AND
MAGNETISM."

ONE OF THE THINGS I APPRECIATE MOST ABOUT THIS COURSE IS THE

HANDS-ON APPROACH TAKEN BY MY TEACHER. WE'VE CONDUCTED
COUNTLESS EXPERIMENTS, BOTH IN THE LAB AND IN THE CLASSROOM, TO
HELP US BETTER UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPTS WE WERE STUDYING. THESE
EXPERIMENTS NOT ONLY HELPED SOLIDIFY OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE
MATERIAL BUT ALSO PROVIDED US WITH VALUABLE INSIGHTS INTO THE
SCIENTIFIC PROCESS.

I'VE ALSO COME TO APPRECIATE THE IMPORTANCE OF MATHEMATICS IN

PHYSICS. THE EQUATIONS WE LEARNED IN CLASS WERE NOT JUST
ABSTRACT CONCEPTS, BUT RATHER POWERFUL TOOLS FOR DESCRIBING THE
PHYSICAL WORLD. LEARNING TO SOLVE COMPLEX PROBLEMS USING
MATHEMATICAL FORMULAS WAS A CHALLENGING YET INCREDIBLY
REWARDING EXPERIENCE.

OVERALL, MY EXPERIENCE IN GENERAL PHYSICS HAS BEEN A POSITIVE ONE.

THIS COURSE HAS CHALLENGED ME IN WAYS I NEVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE,
BUT IT HAS ALSO PROVIDED ME WITH A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE
PHYSICAL WORLD AROUND US. AS I MOVE FORWARD INTO MY FUTURE
STUDIES, I KNOW THAT THE SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE I GAINED IN THIS
COURSE WILL CONTINUE TO SERVE ME WELL. I'M GRATEFUL FOR THE
OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE TAKEN THIS COURSE, AND I'M EXCITED TO SEE
WHERE MY CONTINUED STUDIES IN PHYSICS WILL TAKE ME.