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This article discussed a topic that I often think about in my spare time. I am dead set on becoming a doctor, but when I think about the Biology, Physics and Chemistry courses that I have to take, I am struck by pure terror. I do not, however, feel this same terror when I open a Biology, Chemistry or Physics textbook. Reading about science and watching documentaries about science is something I truly enjoy. It’s not until I am faced with a set of questions that I must answer, problems that I must solve, or the grade that I absolutely must earn in order to maintain my sanity, that science becomes something that I dread.

I believe that many other students feel the same way. I agree with the article when it suggests that “in teaching our students, we continually fail to activate rich opportunities for revealing the breathtaking vistas opened up by science, and instead focus on the need to gain competency with science’s underlying technical details.” In our educational system, the student is rarely left to discover laws of nature on his or her own, but is instead told what he or she is expected to discover, and if this backwards process is difficult, as it is for many, the student is left to believe that he or she is incompetent in the study of science.

I was also particularly interested when I read that the author has “spoken with high school dropouts who’ve stumbled on popular science books about the human genome project, and then returned to school with newfound purpose.” My best friend is also a high school dropout and I am always surprised to discover the many interesting books on science that she reads on a regular basis. She has such a strong passion for acquiring knowledge about science and nature, that I, the biology student among us, am truly inspired by her. I have also known other unlikely people with a similar passion and curiosity for science. These unlikely people grasp the importance of science and how it connects to our lives.

By far, my favorite part of the article was the closing lines, “It’s the birthright of every child, it’s a necessity for every adult, to look out on the world, as the soldier in Iraq did, and see that the wonder of the cosmos transcends everything that divides us.” This, I believe, is one of the most important lessons that one can learn from science. Science is not necessarily about memorizing the most facts, balancing the most difficult equations, or even getting into the toughest grad schools. Science is about understanding our selves and our place in the world.