Reflection Essay

When I first got accepted into Stuyvesant High School, I heard countless of rumors stating: “Oh the workload is terrible”, “The competition is so fierce” or “Out of schoolwork, extracurriculars, or sleep: you can only pick two.” I found it hard to let it faze me, since I graduated from one of the most prestigious middle schools. However, the rumors transformed into reality when I stepped into Mr. Nieves’ Freshman Composition Class. The workload at the beginning of the year was brutal, coupled with assignments from other core classes that seem unaware of the workload of other teachers. Reading assignments were a regular, and there were journal entries and occasional quizzes to keep us in line. What made it bearable was the friends I made in that class; everyone had their own opinion about the topic we were talking about, and listening to other perspectives really broadened my horizon and enriched my learning experience in Stuy. Another thing that this class has taught me is the importance of time management, a skill that I will carry on for the rest of my high school career and life. When I choose to sign up for Mr. Nieves’ AP American Literature class in my Junior Year, I was hoping to relive the discussion-based lesson plans and meet more outstanding peers. I was not disappointed, to say the least, reflecting through all the experiences at the end of the course. The lesson plans he laid out for us were an interesting mix between small lectures and class output, and what I

Knowledge, the key to progress, has proven to be a human being’s most powerful and significant weapon. We gain knowledge when we put our brain to work at the problems we need to solve in life. It doesn’t matter what we are trying to accomplish, whether it be creating a new technology or learning how to put together a puzzle, the matter of fact is that both request great examination and research to resolve and learn. Scientific research is a technique used to investigate phenomena, correct previous understanding, and acquire new knowledge. Knowledge could lead us to a possible cure for cancer, an alternative for fossil fuels, and the creation of a revolutionary technology. Nevertheless, all these benefits are a reason why

“The smartest, most energetic kids are attracted by high finance and manufacturing than anything else,” he says. The lack of fresh blood in the science field, combined with the lack of funding, is the two big obstacles in any scientific research. He relates these two issues to the two physics terms, matter and energy, where money is the mass, and fresh blood is the energy. Since these two are what the universe is made up of, the lack of them is “enough to kill anything.” Therefore, now that he is a professor, he regards getting students interested in physics as his primary job. He thinks the reason why huge amount of students don’t like physics is that they weren’t introduced to it, and a lot of them have a misunderstanding about physics, thinking that it needs a lot of memorization like in biology and chemistry. As he recalls, the Russian government makes an effort in preventing this misconception by publishing and distributing entertaining books about science for free. Through those books, Russian students are “lured into the realm of physics and science”. “Nothing like that happened in the States,” he added. For that reason, Aprelev sets his first goal to be explaining how physics is different and showing how physics gets easy with the understanding of only a few concepts, in order to clear students’ fear and misconception towards

I am an explorer with an omnivorous intellectual appetite, a natural born researcher. In preschool, I was addicted to trains, spending hours and hours organizing my train sets into size order and by color. As I grew older, I found myself delving into subjects that were interesting to me. One afternoon I would discuss nothing but particle accelerators; the next morning I’d spend

The gears in my mind began to turn. This fun-filled moment with my classmates sparked my curiosity into the realm of physics. That unforgettable autumn day was the catalyst for my fascination of the laws of

So much can be explained through basic postulates that have been constructed from physics. The classical mechanics that dictate the motion of the human body, the electrical systems that form the basis of impulses in nerves and cardiac tissue, and so much more, captured my attention. In addition, even the mind-bending concepts of physics, such as quantum mechanics, fascinated and perplexed me. Time and time again, I would find ideas from physics enchanting. Though potentially putting my grades on the line, I decided to pursue physics as my core field of study.

Discoveries can manifest themselves in many ways and can be evoked by one's curiosity, necessity or wonder. The

My personal quest for knowledge has been ongoing since the first day I picked up a science book. I have never been more interested in any subject. It truly spoke to me. At a college level, there is a magnitude of opportunities. I had the opportunity to participate in the Student Dissector program on campus in the Spring of 2015, I visited the Stanford Cadaver Lab with Biology Club this semester, and I traveled to see a talk by the world renowned American astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, and science communicator, Neil deGrasse Tyson.

I have always been fascinated with all of the components of space. I always wondered how scientist could gather so much information on one simple topic such as gravity. It impresses me that average humans like Albert Einstein can accomplish so much discovery and techniques. I can barely pass my math quiz after i've studied for 2 days straight.

Last year, my small high school was finally graced with an Astronomy class. I eagerly signed up, and discovered the curriculum surpassed my expectations. I had a wonderful time in the class, and discovered many wonderful things. The creation and destruction of stars, the substances that make up our universe, extraordinary facts about planets, moons, and asteroids; these are just a fraction of the topics I learned throughout the class, but only one really stretched my mind. Stretched may even be too simple of a term to describe its effect on my mind.

Growing up I was always fascinated by the sciences,and I attribute that mostly to watching Bill Nye growing up, because he made a subject that ordinarily would have been daunting easy to approach. This is something that I believe was one of Bill Nye’s goals, and he achieved it marvelously. Which is why I have always taken the enriched science classes.

Hutchinson, Sikivu. "Who Wants To Be A Rocket Scientist?." Humanist 74.3 (2014): 8. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 1 May 2016.

Over the course of my early childhood, I have always had an unexplainable craving for knowledge. I have always loved math and science, but I have also maintained a desire to express my knowledge through my writing. When I was in second grade I realized that I wanted to be a science major, but I still had a passion for mathematics. Over the past few years I have been searching for a career that involves both of these subjects. At first, I wanted to be a meteorologist or a climatologist, but I became discontent with these options when I discovered what my salary would be. After I gave up on these options I became interested in doing research to satisfy my desire for knowledge. It was only a matter of time before I discovered a subject matter that would meet my requirements. After learning about the vast unknown of the universe I became entranced by the immeasurable quantity of information yet to be ascertained. This has developed into an exceptional interest in the field of physics and astrophysics.

Finding out how and why things work and discovering how products are made has always my passion. I regularly watch engineering and science shows on the television. From my childhood, I have always been a very curious person who would not believe just because someone told me, but I had to know the reason behind it. Science always fascinated me, and I always wondered how we remained on the ground and never fell off something that is spherical. In school I was more interested in maths and science rather than History or Arts and this made me choose Chemistry, maths and physics as my Higher subjects. This has helped me appreciate how Science has been utilised to improve man’s life and make it easier. It is because of this that I would like to

Scientific courses always aroused my sense of wonder which made studying and researching them a delight to me, and out of the