Throughout my time in high school, social studies and hard sciences
has always been portrayed as a binary; an either/or choice; choices that are difficult to integrate and reconcile. However, I never saw this binary; most, if not academics subjects are interconnected, with their growth dependent on the advancement of others. When I began researching colleges I should apply to, I sought to find one with the same philosophy of teaching I expected from my teachers: one the emphasizes the interconnectedness of social studies and hard sciences. Throughout this research process my senior year of high school, I looked at online forums, discussed with my parents and neighbors, many of whom had children attend the University of Washington, and consult with my peers who all attend college currently. While the University of Washington didnt place special emphasis on interdisciplinary education outside of general education requirements, after talking with a friend who attends UW, I learned of a program which did: The Honors program. Her description of the Honors Program fulfilled my desires for an education, and thus was one of the guiding reasons why I matriculated to the UW. In my time at UW, I hope to continue discovering the intricacies of the topics that I learn. Discoveries did not happen in a vacuum, nor should learning be as well. The advancements of science, math, and the arts, they were influenced by the subtle pushes and pulls each one exerted on the other. For example, the cultural richness of the Renaissance led to a quizzical philosophy that caused an intellectual boom in the sciences during the Enlightenment era. My UW experiences should follow the same pathway: encouraging critical and causality thinking to find pathways I havent discovered or even considered yet. This quarter, I hope to begin to explore different culture through my Honors Japanese Modern Film and Culture class. I hope to challenge myself and prepare myself through taking Honors Chemistry. I hope the classes that I take current will for a strong base for classes that I seek to take in the future. But most importantly, I hope that these classes will eventually link back to each other. While these classes currently seem unrelated, I hope through my UW Honors experience I will find an under-arching theme that will allow me to understand and connect the topic areas I choose to study. By exploring the causality relationships between seemingly unrelated subjects, I hope this will strengthen by insights to become more compassionate, analytical, and observant of patterns. I believe that these virtues would be extremely useful after my undergraduate experience as I
attempt to apply into medical school and become a cardiothoracic surgeon.
The capacity to empathize as well as think objectively are prerequisites for becoming a healthcare professional. But more importantly, these virtues are necessary to be an open-minded and informed global citizen a more important defining characteristic in an increasingly globalized society. Ultimately, I see the Honors Program as a pathway as a bridge between two sides; a force for enlightenment and improvement of myself, the ultimate goal for higher education.
(Routledge Library Editions - Social Theory 4) John Rex (Editor) - Approaches To Sociology - An Introduction To Major Trends in British Sociology-Routledge (2015) PDF