The Answer is Blowing in the Wind Showcase

This semester, I was able to explore different types of energy and their impact through my Honors Seminar titled "The Answer is Blowing in the Wind". This seminar merged a course and a study abroad into one streamlined experience. The course, titled Energy, Environment, and Society, was an opportunity to learn about energy use and its impact on the environment, different forms of energy, and how policy affects how energy is produced and used. The goal of the course was to help students in making informed decisions and preparing them to articulate the complexities faced in making these choices, which it definitely did! The study abroad experience is a study tour to Scotland, which is a world leader on using and producing almost entirely renewable energy. The study tour is scheduled after this reflection, but I plan to continue updating my portfolio with the experiences I have in mid-December!

Because of this seminar, I feel more well-rounded on the topic of energy use and production, as well as the hot topic of shifting to renewables. In a world full of quick information and misinformation, it is sometimes hard to find the best course of action on any given topic. I think that through this course, I was able to learn a broad overview of many energy issues in the world today, revealing how much is taken into account when making a decision on energy topics.

My favorite discussion of the semester was a discussion on electric vehicles, including general information and discussing pros and cons of implementing EVs in the US by 2050. I was able to form my own decision on the topic by looking at the big picture and developing many possibilities of what the future may hold.

My main takeaway from this course is that energy production and use is a complex topic that, from my perspective, does not have a clear cut answer. There are many factors that need to be taken into account for a place to run entirely on renewable energy, as well as restrictions including weather, land, government policy, cost, and many, many more. As a business analytics and marketing major, it was interesting to learn about the technical side of energy production and use. It was also fun to offer a perspective on marketing that not many in the class considered before. I hope to continue having experiences in my future that are cross-functional and tackle complex challenges to continue my personal growth and development. And of course, I cannot wait to travel to Scotland to meet with universities and companies abroad!