I never liked science biology was bad, chemistry made me cry and physics was just as bad. Yet, ironically, I was in an intensive math, science and technology program in high school that required basic biology, chemistry, and physics, then three more science classes, at least one of which had to be Advanced Placement. I struggled through these classes, doing the work and getting good grades, but hating the work.

Then, second semester of my senior year, I took my last science class, Environmental Science. I did not expect it to be any different than my previous classes, but it was. Instead of just reading a book and doing simple labs that didn't really require much thought, we were forced to think of solutions to problems. One lab required us to experiment with water that had been polluted: we dumped things into it that simulated real life water pollutants and make that water drinkable. We had to be creative and could use whatever we needed to make the water pure to drink. When learning how city design disrupts wildlife and harms the environment, we were challenged to design a city that would reduce pollution, but still serve the needs of a growing population. We were no longer passive observers, reading how others thought the world could be improved, we had to figure out and create for ourselves resolutions to real-life problems. We were encouraged to think and come up with ideas, and science was not just dry facts and formulas to be memorized, these were things that need attention now, and we were given a chance to tackle them.

I still don not love science, and I am not looking forward to meeting my Natural Science General Education requirement. But I did get a chance to see that a subject that I didn't like could be interesting and even fun.

Anna Cowell, American University