Everyone has vivid memories of their childhood; mine included things like cartoons, sci-fi movies, and books.
My favorite cartoons included Dexter’s Laboratory and the Power Puff Girls. Okay, I never actually watched the Power Puff Girls episodes, but occasionally I would see the beginning intro (which never changed), you know, where the Professor was mixing chemicals to create the Power Puff Girls.
Dexter was always a cool guy; science seemed to solve everything. And as far as I could tell when I was a child, it did. Medicine made me feel better. Cars got me around to where I needed to go. The television and gaming consoles seemed like the best thing ever invented, second to probably microwavable pizza sticks. Oh wait, all of that was brought to me by the power of science.
And best of all, it was interesting. If any of my other teachers ever read this, I do apologize, but you could talk to me about the World Wars all day long and I was definitely trying to stay awake in class. Unless we’re including practical exercises where I get to head-shot Sid who tossed sand in my hair during lunch, I find it boring. Then Science comes along and tells me: hey, let’s do something COOL.
And so throughout my middle to high school career, I was only interested in Science. It was always fun and never dull, things were a lot more realistic, and basically, all the cool teachers were the scientists anyways.
Now I am in college, in the Chemistry department. Sure, it’s not AS awesome as Dexter’s Laboratory, since I haven’t yet gotten to blow things up. But there is still a beauty in the things I learn, like the fact that I can understand the way the world and the universe works. If I still walk down this path in the future, I can be productive to the general welfare of mankind. People who better other’s lives are always scientists, never doubt this fact. When was the last time a Historian created something that made your daily life better? Unless you love reading History textbooks, I don’t think so. When was the last time any major not related to the sciences created something that improved your life? Think about the daily things you use; what was not invented by a scientist?
Not that I look down upon other majors, but it is important to give credit where it is due, and that would be scientists. People pursue majors for their own interests, but the ones who also manage to help others benefit with their work would always be scientists.
Now, how about helping other people in your lifetime too?