During my two years at Iowa State, I have only taken six credits of general education classes, as

a transfer student I had a lot of catching up to do on Electrical Engineering classes. I have always

appreciated the opportunity to get outside of Electrical Engineering, as it can wear someone

down. Those six credits mentioned earlier include three classes, Energy and the Environment,

Wine and Spirits, and Beer and Brewed Beverages. For the purpose of not making this entirely

about alcohol, the Wine and Beer classes will be counted as just one general education class.

Energy and the Environment, which is an environmental science course, was by far and away

the most important and formative general education class I have taken at Iowa State, over a

year later I still use knowledge from it in conversations. The whole objective of the course was

to learn about how different forms of energy are obtained or created, and the negative effects

that those energy sources have on the environment and public health. I would attribute much

of my opinions about the future of world energy consumption to what I learned in this class,

and as we are approaching an energy crisis in the near or distant future, we must be prepared

as Electrical Engineers to contribute to the solution. Having taken this class I believe that nuclear

energy is the best solution at this time and breakthroughs are being made daily in the research

of nuclear energy, so what I learned was extremely relevant and important to understand.

Both Wine and Spirits and Beer and Brewed Beverages were offered as hospitality services

courses and although I will likely never work in the hospitality industry, I may still need to

entertain guests and or clients. So although these classes look like an excuse to have a few

drinks at four PM on a Tuesday, they may have given me an opportunity to impress in my future

career by knowing what type of red wine pairs best with a New York strip. I would argue that
these classes provided more than just a fun, social experience but also made me more

knowledgeable.

I spent two years at Kirkwood Community College before transferring to Iowa State and one of

the important classes that I transferred over was American Indian History and I would argue

that it had a positive impact on my outlook. By taking a class about Native American history I

gained an important perspective and honestly it gave me much more humility as it is a serious

topic and it brings to light many atrocities. I will likely never be in a situation to make policy

decisions, but I know that I would take lessons from what I learned in this class to ensure that

ethical and morally correct decisions are made in order to protect more vulnerable people and

natural resources.