I’ve always been interested in learning about human’s roles in harming the environment and possible solutions to the multitude of problems we face today. I went to a junior college before OSU and during my time there, took an environmental science course. I’m so happy I did because it taught me quite a bit of useful, yet surface, facts about the environment today and the human practices behind the problems. I brought a lot of what I learned in that course to our discussion on Tuesday and Thursday by offering up some of the wicked problems prevalent today. So many of the problems that loom above us are widely known, it’s just so difficult to come to a consensus on effective ways to solve the issues. Even in our small class, a suggestion would be made to a possible solution and then pretty quickly a counter argument would be put up against it. I couldn’t imagine the nightmare that would ensue when having multiple countries or states trying to create policies on this. The debate between the class when we divided up was pretty cool. The first question was pretty one sided, so I decided to play devil’s advocate and fight for the side less popular. Putting myself in that situation was fun because, while I may not have believed what I was arguing, it’s important to see multiple thoughts or beliefs on a topic. I think I argued as best as I could for an unpopular viewpoint and my classmate that argued with me did a great job as well. I enjoy speaking up in this class and bouncing ideas off the other students. Since the class size is so small, it’s a really fun atmosphere to debate topics that are viewed as difficult subjects in the ‘real world’. 

The main takeaway for me was how many other students also feel how dismal our situation is. I often go back and forth between optimistic and pessimistic on this topic and seeing the other students highly doubtful made me lean more towards the pessimistic side. Yeah, peer pressure is bad and I shouldn’t let my thoughts be affected by others, but also acknowledging the fear may help others to realize how serious the environmental situation is. I remember one of the other girls saying how this class gives her anxiety. I’m not sure if she was joking or not, but I think that’s another reason why climate change in general doesn’t get talked about a lot. It scares people to think that world may become unlivable for humans. I totally agree, it’s a terrifying thought that we could become extinct, and soon. However, (this statement is pretty dark and ruthless,) but maybe some people need to be scared into action. A second takeaway for me was seeing that, for as many people that are clueless or ignorant about global warming, there are so many that truly care. The simple fact that sustainable design is offered at this school shows that there are steps being made towards solutions, simply by providing outlets for students to get educated about environmental issues.