October 20, 2023 | 1st Half of Semester

For my last semester of undergrad, I knew I wanted to end with a study tour seminar. At UC, study tour seminars include a course during the semester and some form of travel at the end of the semester. When browsing the options and applying, one immediately stuck out to me for both the course and the place of travel - "The Answer is Blowing in the Wind". A study of energy, environment, and society, this course detailed to talk about how energy is used, a shift to renewables, and offer an understanding of a topic that I would never cross paths with as a Business Analytics and Marketing student. The description mentioned travels in Scotland, a country that utilizes almost 100% renewable energy sources for electricity. I applied for the section immediately with high hopes and fingers crossed.

To my excitement, I was accepted to the seminar! I was refreshed to have a course in my schedule that was a topic of high interest, as well as the opportunity to interact with students from other colleges my last semester. And of course, I was excited to travel out of the US to Scotland and see their renewable energy firsthand!

Fast forward to now. The course is a little over halfway done. Each week, our class explores different topics starting with how electricity is generated, the variety of technologies, energy use, environmental impacts, renewable energy, transportation, and storage. The learning methods are dynamic with a variety of lectures, open discussions, "field trips", debates, and guest speakers. So far, it has been a favorite course of mine with learning the material, interacting with other students, and experiencing something that I would have never been able to in another elective.

The most notable of these experiences was the first of 2 class trips - the first trip was a tour of UC's own power plant! UC has a power plant that generates electricity for UC's entire campus, as well as electricity for 6 surrounding hospitals in the area. It was interesting to hear how the plant worked, as well as climbing up and down stairs to explore the plant with a tour guide. Below, there are some pictures of this tour!

I was also able to participate in a debate with the topic of "Should All Cars Be Electric by 2050?". My team was on the affirmative side, and it was an interactive way to learn about the topic. For the debate, it was as much about defending the affirmative side as it was learning what our opponents would bring up and any counterpoints that we brought to the table. Overall, it was a fun and challenging way to learn about the pros and cons of electric vehicle implementation throughout the world.

I am excited to see how the rest of this semester goes, as well as learning even more about the details for our Scotland trip!