2016 AIPG STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
I am excited to learn about something that is far bigger than humans – bigger than humanity itself; something that has been going on for billions of years – a time range hardly fathomable. What fascinates me the most is the idea that geologic processes do not ust pertain to our planet, but that other planets’ geology can be inferred from mineralogical data, such as provided by the Mars Rover – Curiosity!
During my freshman year at the University of Arizona, I almost switched my maor. I had chosen geology because I grew up with it – both my parents are geologists. But did I really know that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life? I met great individuals, hungry for knowledge and beaming with excitement. I did not share their enthusiasm. What I was missing was my niche.
I found it in mineralogy, specifically planetary mineral- ogy. After taking mineralogy – the same semester I was already in the process of switching my maor to linguistics – I started working in the University of Arizona’s Mineralogy and Crystallography laboratory. This is where I was first exposed to the Nasa Mars Proect. Fascinated and excited, I realized this was my true passion. My curiosity was awoken.
Curiosity can be found in many places and the possible scope of curiosity is endless. Curiosity not only leads us to travel to different countries, but truly from the smallest particles of our own body to the outermost edges of the cosmos. Curiosity is the force against inertia. With it, we dive into literature, travel through history, and experience art, math, and science. Awoken from disinterest and apathy, curiosity is what moti- vates us to follow our dreams and pursue our goals. It is not curiosity that will kill you, but its absence.
Brett Flessner, SA-7507
The Slow Moving Process that Is Geology
Ask me 10 years ago what geol- ogy was and ten year old me would have most likely described the clear smooth crystals my brothers and I once spent summer vacations to the beach collecting. We would search for hours, and compare our hauls at the end like miniature prospec- tors, fighting over the smoothest, or shiniest specimens. Little did I know at the time what I was
dutifully collecting was Quartz, the most common mineral in the world. That knowledge would probably have diminished my enthusiasm at least a bit, with the realization that these gemstones (priceless ewels to me at the time) were ust about as easy to find as any of the other stones laying on the beach. While I certainly was interested in the cool-looking minerals I collected at the time, my interest in geology didn’t really extend past filling a bottle or two with my favorite rocks, and forgetting about them once the summer concluded and the camping trip came to an end.
Ask me 5 years ago what geology was and I would have answered that geology was ust one of those stupid classes in high school that we would never use again in ‘real-life.’ At that point in my life, my future plans were to have a positive impact on the world. I was going to be a doctor, a brain surgeon. I
was going to be a big deal. For me, and ust as it is for others, geology wasn’t even on the radar. Who wants to look at rocks all day anyway? I’d been to the Pictured Rocks in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. “Sure they look nice,” I remember thinking, as we toured the Lakeshore by pontoon, “but they are ust Rocks! They aren’t going anywhere, what’s the point?” I didn’t realize at that time, but the point of looking at rocks would become clear to me one day, no matter how long it took.
The summer after I graduated high school I (astoundingly) decided to study geology on a whim, more due to the fact that I had no idea what I wanted to be, than anything else. Had someone told younger me that I would be that nerd that admits to “liking rocks,” I would have laughed and denied. When I would be asked what my maor was for my first few years at college I would preface with “It’s geology, but I don’t actually like rocks that much, I ust wanted to be able to go outside sometimes.”
As I sat there, and spent my days looking at the infamous rocks, something grew on me. Not only did I amazingly come to like looking at the rocks, to the point where I now spend countless hours a week looking at assorted lavas from Ethiopia for various research proects, but I also began to realize that perhaps I COULD have an impact on the world in geology. At least locally, I saw that geologists do exist, and that the work they do not only lets us understand our world better (in terms of my professors), but also help to preserve our environment, and protect people.
Ask me today what geology is, and I would still not have a perfect answer. I was afforded the great opportunity to begin work at an environmental remediation firm in my area this past summer. This experience has truly revealed to me the impact geologists have in the world, and specifically my world. Up to this point in my fledgling career as a geologist I have already been involved in remediating the groundwater at multiple sites in areas very near my hometown. Without this fleet of professional geologists and their ability to analyze and take action in the environment we know and use, the environ- ment itself would be in graver danger than it already is. If you asked me now, I would say being a geologist extends beyond the cool rocks we get to look at, and that it is the opportunity to better our communities in unseen ways, and is incalculably important, the field of geology, no matter how long it took me to come to that realization.
Casey Saup, SA-4945
Although I have always been a naturally curious person, I was sometimes discouraged from pursuing a higher education due to my then-undiagnosed learning disability—attention deficit disor- der. Fortunately, my father, who has the same learning disability, helped me greatly by providing me with the individual scholastic attention I needed and gave me constant encouragement when it came to my unique learning inter- ests, despite the fact that the vast maority of my family never went to college. It was through this nurturing that I was able to discover a love of science and frequent trips to the Orton Hall Geology Museum at The Ohio State University fostered a great interest in geology.
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