I am a geoscience major and I don’t expect this statement to identify with anyone. I mean what even is geoscience? Well, it’s the study of the Earth’s processes. I swear it’s not as boring as it sounds. It’s the study of what makes our Earth, Earth. We are such a unique planet with an extensive history of geological processes such as volcanoes, tsunamis, and earthquakes. Now, are you interested? Does any of this sound familiar? Another name for geoscience is Earth science. Yep, that’s my major. I always find it so fascinating that people barely know about it. They know geology or meteorology or paleontology but once they see geoscience it gets blank stares. I am not surprised as the major itself is quite a niche. When I was applying to different colleges, I was losing hope of finding a college that I liked and that even had the major. Everything was geology or environmental science and I didn’t want to settle. I didn’t want to be specific and focus on one element of our Earth because I didn’t want to be put in a box. My dream is to be an Earth science teacher and how could I even feel comfortable teaching my students about Earth science if I only had a degree in psychology? I was so stressed until my boyfriend at the time mentioned Virginia Tech and convinced me to apply. I had no idea what I was jumping into but it wound up being the best decision ever.
Starting off as a geoscience major was a bit rough. The class I had to take to introduce me to my major was called Earth’s Dynamic Systems. The class was smaller than I expected and everyone seemed to be super studious. I like to study and I like to learn things but I wasn’t the downing coffee and hounding on my teachers type of studious. Like girls in those Wattpad stories who say their favorite thing is to read but the only book they seemed to read was a random classic like The Great Gatsby. I was more of a chill learner. Yes, I am intrigued by the new things I am learning but I am not a die-hard you know? I hope that makes sense. Anyway, the class was mostly lecture with two field trips sprinkled in. The class was led by two professors: one who specialized in invertebrate paleontology—dinosaurs with backbones— and the other specialized in metamorphic processes—rocks. You wouldn’t think a duo like this could work doing a whole class together but they did. They were like peanut butter and jelly and the most refreshing aspect was how excited they were to teach the information. They were passionate about it all and there wasn’t a single time they had a lecture in which they seemed to drone on and didn’t seem to care. In my opinion, a good teacher is one who cares about their students and the student’s knowledge and these professors did both. They were absolutely amazing instructors for little freshman Brooklyn here because they seemed to understand that their target audience was mostly freshmen. They actually engaged with us and they realized we didn’t need expectations shoved upon us on the first meet. They listened and adjusted things to our needs and that was spectacular. Professor Nesbitt and Professor Caddick are great professors I would recommend to anyone. Other than the lectures, we had field trips. The last one was an all-day field trip where we went to 4 different locations.
First, we started the all-day field trip at Virginia’s Museum of Natural History. We started in the back to view the labs and how the museum stored and preserved fossils. I originally thought that they find a fossil and put it on display and that’s that. But this trip made me realize that cleaning the fossil can take months and that they have to make a replica of the fossil. So half the fossils we see on display in museums are just replicas. Little Brooklyn would have choked on her spit if you told her that. My only regret on this part of the field trip is the fact I made an emergency lunch and forgot to buy from the dining halls so my lunch was composed of random vending machine items. What a joy.
We eventually got to look around the museum and the different displays. While I was more interested in reading the information regarding the rocks and processes that occurred in Virginia, I would have to say the fossils on display were amazing to look at. Is it every day that you can tell your family you saw a fossilized fish? Nope, I didn’t think so.
After this, we went to the side of a Walmart to look at some rock formations. Yep, you heard that right, spending our time on the side of the road. Did I spend most of that time trying not to die from being poked with thorns? Yes. Did I have fun rambling to my friend about how all these rocks look the same and I was determined to get a snack at a gas station or something? Yes. If you asked me what we learned at the side of the Walmart, I wouldn’t be able to tell you, except there was granite. Geoscience fact: when in doubt say it’s granite or slate. It may not make sense now, but it means something.
Now this aspect of the trip didn’t last long as we then moved on to our final location: the side of another road. But this one had me quite excited because we got to stop at a gas station too. And I was able to get Arizona Sweet Tea. This drink is a high commodity at least to me because there is no on-campus dining hall that has it. Once I got my sweet tea, I was ready to geoscience it up. We observed the different kinds of rocks and tried to deduce the way this area was formed. I am going, to be honest, I forgot what the answer was but it sounded very scientific and cool. Mom, I know you read this, so just know I am loving my major, no complaints and yes I am learning things.
Finally, to end this field trip, we drove all the way up to Rock Castle Gorge Overlook and I was astonished by how gorgeous the site was. When I saw the view, I realized thatgeoscience was going to be full of this. I would be able to see the beauty of this world and what makes Earth so rare and astonishing. While the major includes things like staring at a rock for hours, it also has these real marvels that not everyone in their life can appreciate. As we looked over the overlook, everyone talking about what they would do when they got back to campus or what their plans for the rest of the week were, but I was thinking about the decision I made. The decision of going to Virginia Tech for this major, the things that I have seen and done, and I felt finally satisfied with it. There is nothing I would change. Nothing in my mind could beat this. If this is what I get to enjoy for the rest of my life, I will be satisfied.
