Take the “Scary” Class

One thing about me is there are very few times in my life that I enjoyed math. In most cases I have come to dread taking a math course or any course that makes you do calculations above algebra. In high school I refused to take physics because in my mind the only thing worse than regular math was applied math, and I was going to be a political science major so it didn’t matter to me anyway. Well guess what people, I came to Carleton and I decided to be a geology major which ended up changing everything.

Major requirements

The geology major requires you to take two math courses as well as a physics course to complete the major at Carleton. This means that I simply have to take math in college (oh no!) and that I will be doing math in grad school and also my life (gasp!). As it turns out, I was really overthinking and underestimating my capacity to do math. When I did take calculus it went great, and when I needed it I found support at the Math Skills Center. That being said, though math went fine, my biggest struggle has always been word problems. Do you know what physics is?

What if I fail?

Yeah, I wasn’t thrilled at the idea of having to take the course to finish my major because I was honestly slightly horrified at the thought of bombing a class at Carleton. Don’t get me wrong, I have failed multiple tests at Carleton (it turns out to be totally okay and you can still get a good grade don’t worry–sometimes you need to fail to grow a lot). I was scared of being unable to solve a problem, sitting in class as my peers worked ahead of me while I had to pretend that I knew what was going on. Now this fear wasn’t entirely irrational. Since coming to college I’ve learned a lot about how I learn, and in courses that involve mathematical concepts and 3D spatial thinking it sometimes means I take longer than other people to grasp a concept because that type of thinking doesn’t always come easily to me.

While I’ve come to realize that we all have different strengths and there are things that are quite easy for me, it’s was hard to realize that it’s okay to be slower. I had to change from panicking in class group work about being behind to pausing and letting myself know that even if I didn’t get it now, I would figure it out later–I always do. Often I didn’t even need office hours or help from classmates, sometimes I just need more time for my brain to cook on a concept before it all added up for me.

So physics?

Of course even with all this ~personal growth~ I was still a little worried about physics. But there I was: junior winter with time ticking to fulfill all my graduation and major requirements. So I signed up for physics 145: Mechanics and Waves, because it had to be done. The first day of class I sat in a larger lecture room with a class size I had never experienced (as it turns out the Classics department and geology department are a bit more niche), and waited for the whole ordeal to be over. After the first class I was presently surprised–I wasn’t bored and the professor was pretty engaging. After the first week of class I found myself mildly shocked: I actually love physics.

What’s not to love?

Apparently nobody told me but physics simply explains how the world works. Isn’t that awesome? One of the reasons I like geology so much is because I get to understand how water moves, how landscapes are formed, how the earth exists, what causes natural disasters at more. It changes the entire perspective of how I see the world–quite literally–because when I look at a lake or a stone building, I suddenly understand how it or its materials came to be. Physics gets into things I never even thought about–who knew friction could be so fascinating?

This may sound obvious, but I never stopped to think about how wheels work, how gravity affects things, how centrifugal force isn’t actually a force, or how a model of a spring can tell us about how the earth’s crust rebounds after a glacial ice sheet is removed. Physics is everywhere, and especially present in geology. This is one of my favorite things about Carleton and liberal arts: all topics collide in learning. Everything is so connected, and here it is taught that way.

Help!

Despite having it all be magical and fun I still do struggle a bit. Not to worry, I have tons of classmates to work on the homework with (collaboration is encouraged!). There are also PSFs (problem solving fellows aka physics majors who can support you as you do problem sets), and office hours–all which I utilize to help make things make sense.

Moral of the story

While I don’t regret taking any of the courses I have taken at Carleton–it makes me wonder: what if I had taken physics sooner? What if physics is my true calling? Would I have become a physics major? Haha…probably not. I don’t even know if I will be successful in this course. But, I think I would have taken more physics classes because so much of it applies to geology and I find it to be so interesting. Though I likely won’t take another class in the physics department while at Carleton (the schedule for senior year is looking full), I have a geophysics class next year to look forward to and the notion that maybe one should try hard things even if they seem potentially terrible after all–you truly never know how it will go.

Hannah is a junior majoring in Geology and minoring in Classics. As a Minnesotan she considers herself somewhat of an expert on MN winters. At Carleton, she fills her schedule with writing for the Admissions blog, working as a CCCE Communications Fellow, doing geology research and TAing geology classes, and increasing voter engagement on campus. When Hannah isn’t in class, she can be found tossing a frisbee with Syzygy, crocheting, reading, walking and skiing in the Arb, thrifting, and hanging out with her besties. Meet the other bloggers!