This past weekend I participated in Honolulu’s March for Science at UH Manoa. Even if you’ve never heard of the March for Science or fully understand what it was for, I’m sure you’ve seen some pictures and videos on the news, on your social media, or have even seen the posters around campus.
Basically, in honor of Earth Day this past Saturday, April 22, a series of rallies and marches were held in Washington, D.C. as well as in over 500 cities across the WORLD – Honolulu being one of them. The objective of March for Science was to bring awareness to and promote science education, methodologies, and science-based policies and practices. Marching is just one way to unite communities and really make a powerful statement, as it quantifies the actual number of people who are standing behind and fighting for a cause. With the success of the International Women’s March recently this year, I think March for Science was hoping for a similar turnout.
I had marched alongside my Public Health Club but there were many other HPU students, clubs and majors present at the march representing all areas of science. What I enjoyed most was seeing the variety in people; there were students from all ages and schools, families and their children, scientists and professors, elderly people – each of them equipped with their own nerdy sign. If I’m being honest though, the event felt more of a shady march against Trump and his “alternative facts” more than anything and I. WAS. LIVING. FOR. IT.
With this administration and with everything going on in the world today, I strongly advocate for the importance of science and ultimately education. We have so many advancements in health and technology that we can attribute to scientific research and I see no future going forward without it. There is science in everything. How anyone could blatantly deny that climate change is real and care so incorrigibly little about the degradation of our environment is beyond me, but I have hope for our world because of events like the March for Science. It’s good to be surrounded by like-minded people who care just as much, if not even more, than you do.
Photos courtesy of Michelle.