The textbook definition of science is, “the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.” Quite a mouthful, in my opinion, but I guess it is a pertinent question in our lives to ask; “What is science?” and what it means to us.
Ever since grade school, science has been a part of the curriculum. Having gone through years of taking up this subject, science from grade school now seems to be such basic knowledge, but looking back, a lot of the things that I learned back then would leaved me amazed. I would be so amazed to the point of being giddy about learning something new about the world, making me rush home, excited to tell my parents or siblings about what I had just found out. Sure it may seem to make a funny image in our heads, now, how one can get so ecstatic about having learned about how clouds form or how many animals there may be or even as something as relatively simple as how we breathe, but at the time, learning about the real world was my world. [I use the term “simple” very loosely as we all know that the respiratory system is quite complex, it is just that compared to everything else that we know it starts to become rather common sense in a way.]
In high school, science was a whole new ball game. During our first year, we took up Science and Technology and basically had to remember everything that we had learned in grade school, mix the information together and apply it to new concepts. I remember that even cloud formation and the rain cycle took on a new form and seemed rather unfamiliar to me at the time when we had to take up particular terms and concepts. Then we got introduced to the more specialized areas in science, namely Biology, Chemistry and finally Physics. Biology was fairly easy in its own right because it was all basically memory work of what one thing was called, how it interacted with another part of a body or organism and what not. Chemistry and Physics boggled me by a bit what with all the computations that had to be done and the formulas that had to be memorized. Chemistry, more for balancing out equations and such and Physics for all the motion and its different kinds that we had to study and learn. Science, then, had less of an “amazement” effect for me at the time because I ended up getting so caught up in all the grades and the memorizing and the computing and what not. I didn’t have the time to appreciate everything that I was learning. I was merely just going through the motions.
At this point, I am currently taking up Physics 10 as one of my general electives in my college, the University of the Philippines, Diliman and I think that I can truly admit that my love for the subject of science is back. The same giddy grade schooler that would run home, excited, is back. Sure, more mature, but sometimes having that same sparkle in his eye. A good example of this was actually today’s lecture on holograms. I believe that it was so apt to this blog assignment because it showed me just how much of a kid I could still get. All from the speckle effect, to the floating green oblation statue, to the holo-discs and to the shimmering, moving japanese woman. I became so captivated by the topic that I couldn’t help but admire every single piece that the professor was showing and teaching. Getting home, and while talking with my dad, I just suddenly blurted out, “Hey dad! We took up this whole thing about holograms today.” And with that this long discussion ensued on what had transpired during my class. He, himself, then ended up becoming so interested as well, asking me to take it with him step-by-step of how the demo was presented and how the holograms were made. Having been so enamored by the idea of it all, I wasn’t even at a loss of words. Before I knew it, I was just talking about it so animatedly that it inspired us to look it up online and research about it even more.
Perhaps, in that last sentence in the previous paragraph, that is what science is to me. It allows you to learn things and to invite you to get so interested in them to the point that you want to learn more. The constant pursuit and love for knowledge is, for me, what science is. Being able to feel like a kid again learning just how beautiful the world is, is what science is. Being able to break down everything that is so complex into concepts and terms that almost anyone can understand, is what science is. It lets you feel just how grand the world is, and not only that, but even the universe that we live in. It lets you explore and know more about yourself by basically learning about everything else. It makes you grow.
Physics 10 has served to be such a conglomerate of ideas that it’s hard to define what it is, but I can say this: It brought back the kid in me. Sure, I talked about this earlier but I can’t emphasize on that tidbit enough. In the 4 years of high school, I was too busy trying to comprehend the subject matter and the grades that I just plain didn’t have the time to appreciate it. Now, there are times when I just catch myself thinking about something that I had taken up, not for academic purposes only but also just because I ended up wondering more about it. Those moments present me with yet another chance to pursue more knowledge, to learn more and to be more. For me, it’s the best feeling in the world to keep getting your questions answered and that journey to those answers is what makes it fun. What a sad day it would be if ever the time came that people stopped asking questions.
To conclude, I guess I can say that science can get difficult at times, to learn more so to master but the benefits that you get from it definitely outweigh the hardship. You just have to put in the right effort, and in the end, be able to put in the right time to be able to appreciate everything. It makes you appreciate not only the subject, but everything around you, and life.
(Source: gamelander)
