As a student who is a psychology major and does not have a knack for chemistry, I was very intimidated going into this class. I was more focused on the idea that this would be the final core class I would have to take at Concordia, so I started off rough in the class. I was less focused on understanding and applying the material to other things I had learned and more focused on going through the motions to get through the class. After the first exam, I had a moment of realization; I knew that I was not doing enough in order to be successful, and I hated the idea of that. From that point on, I was determined to learn the material properly. I had continuously told myself that I just “wasn’t good at chemistry so I won’t do well.” That fixed mindset was what was weighing me down, and after this class, I now believe in myself when it comes to chemistry. My biggest learning achievement was learning how to properly read scientific articles. When I first started the class, I would read the articles but not get much information out of it. It was almost like I didn’t know what I was supposed to be getting out of the article. Once I changed the style in which I read the articles, it opened a whole new door of understanding for myself. I started to enjoy learning the material, I would go out of my way to do extra research for different areas of the article, I had re-instilled my love for learning. The biggest application this class had to offer for me was communication with other students. I tended to be quiet in class considering I didn’t know much about the material compared to other students. Over time though, I started to realize it was less about knowing the material and was more about being able to voice your thoughts with the other students. Communication was my most improved skill by far as a result of this class. I found myself participating more in not only discussions for this class, but also in my job and other classes as well. I learned to be more confident in what I say which made me more likely to speak up. Learning at a liberal arts institution is so much more than just learning class material. To me, it’s about applying what you learn to what you do, how you can make people’s lives better around you with the information provided. It’s about the lessons you’ll carry into your next chapter and learning there’s no limit on what you can accomplish. The problem that required the most disciplinary perspective was the PEAK project. This is because there are students from two entirely different disciplinaries trying to work together as one instead of two. Groups can be so focused on the fact that their disciplinaries are different, like working from a social work perspective compared to a chemistry perspective, but what’s great about having two different groups is that you can use multiple disciplinaries to your advantage. The social work students were able to use the skills they’ve learned from classes to properly engage and spread the word of the project while the chemistry students were able to offer the proper material for putting together an effectively worded project. When two groups can come together, the work can be inspirational; when two groups can’t come together, there is not hope for a successful project. It’s easy to think that because other people are different from you, that you won’t be able to work together. However, I think that was the lesson Concordia instilled on us best, that everyone is different and no matter how different you are from someone, the only thing that is stopping you from working well together is the thoughts in your own mind.
Final Blog Post: my capstone experience
