Emily Moyer

Dr. Semih Eser

EGEE 101 H
January 12, 2017
Initial Essay
First, I chose to take this class because I feel that in order to be an engaged citizen I must
understand how, as humans, we are misusing energy and harming the environment. During my
high school education, I learned about energy and power in physics terms. In fact, we practiced
with formulas, made calculations, and put numbers to the broad concepts. I have an
understanding on potential energy vs. kinetic energy, and the equations that they correspond to.
Alike, I am familiar with the law of conservation of energy, which states that energy cannot be
created nor destroyed. On the other hand, some of my knowledge on energy and power stems
from my fathers career as sales manager for a heating and oil company. From a young age I was
taught about solar panels converting the suns energy into heat. Geothermal pumps are a concept
that I too recognize as revolving around the earths energy, to be converted for heating/cooling
purposes. Although I know general knowledge about energy and power, I believe there is so
much more to learn.
From this course, I am hoping to fully grasp the concept of energy and power. Since
energy is not a physical object, it is hard to fully comprehend how crucial and important it is. I
also expect to learn about human involvement with energy and power, and the
detriments/benefits it has caused. The concept of energy and the environment has caused heated
debates lately in the political realm, and as an active citizen I hope to learn more and make my
own opinion on the topic. I would expect to too learn about the predictions for the future, given
our current dependence on energy and power sources which are not entirely safe for the
environment.