In one of my previous blogs, I discussed the PEQ requirements at Nazareth College. One of those requirements is to take a natural science course with a lab. Before taking my Science PEQ, I questioned how taking a science course would benefit my future career in marketing, as none of my major requirements involve science courses or labs. After all, the major requirements within each student’s program are supposed to enhance their future goals and careers. This left me wondering, how can a science course and lab requirement shape my future career in the business field?
I decided to take Integrated Science Inquiry with its respective lab last semester, in order to fulfill my PEQ requirement. This science course was taught by Dr. Kelly Hutchinson-Anderson and was a study of the fundamental principles and ideas of physics, chemistry, biology, and earth science. Our class was taught using a problem-based, and lab-based framework which allows my peers and I to evaluate the science behind societal issues. Integrated Science Inquiry involves many labs and “discoveries,” (which are done prior to the lab), and was a very hands-on course overall as we actually got to try a lot of the concepts we read about. I was overwhelmed to be taking a science course again, after almost two years of taking courses with no correlation to science lab work. I was definitely worried about my success in the course, and my ability to understand the content taught in class.
Now that the semester has come to an end, I can say taking Integrated Science Inquiry was definitely a benefit to my future career in the marketing field. In all of my major-required courses, I am required to participate in group work and collaborate with others. This science course required group work as well through class discussions and debates, and the various labs conducted in class and allowed me to further my collaboration and teamwork skills. This is beneficial to me as a marketing major, because collaboration is important in my field. I will have to collaborate and discuss new projects in the future at my workplace. Also, both science and marketing have an analytical side. Whether you’re working on a new experiment or a new ad campaign, you have to be able to observe and measure what is working and what isn’t and use that data to make the changes necessary for success. Getting to know and work with students of different majors, outside the School of Management, was another great benefit.
One of my favorite moments from this course was being able to present at CARS. CARS stands for Creative Activity and Research Showcase. This event is an annual campus-wide symposium celebrating students’ creative and scholarly work through posters, presentations, and performances. I presented with a two other group members, which reiterated the importance of teamwork and collaboration, on the Vitamin C content in various juices during the poster presentation section. I believe being able to present at CARS was not only a rewarding experience, but one that will benefit me in the future. The entire process of coming up a with project, executing it, and presenting it is not unlike how ads or other marketing tools are created. I also was able to explain my presentation correlation with the marketing field. During our experiment on Vitamin C content in juices, I was curious to know how ethical companies were in marketing the actual amount of Vitamin C in their juices to consumers. It’s amazing that I’m able to make connections between the science field and the marketing field through one course. I believe any of the Science PEQs can serve as a benefit to the School of Management majors and that PEQs in general have a lot of hidden connections to your chosen field if you’re willing to look for them.