Nearing the finish line of my degree in Environmental Science and Geography, I have reflected on some of my favourite classes through the years. The first two years of modules largely were designed to introduce you to lots of different topics. Overall, I found this somewhat useful as I was introduced to subjects that I had never considered before and found interesting. A perfect example of this was the Oceanography section of my Environmental Science module in first year. I also discovered Environmental Criminology in second year. At times, covering lots of subjects could be frustrating when you were learning about a topic that you had already established you had little interest for. Sorry, but no matter how much I tried, I just could not get the hang of Geology. There was certainly still interesting parts and new facts learned. Nonetheless, these more introductory sections to modules allowed me to establish areas that I was more interested in and wanted to pursue further.

Having found subjects that I was interested in, I was really excited for third year, where there was the opportunity to take more specialized classes and learn about a subject in more depth. Reflecting, I think my favourite classes during third year was Environmental Remote Sensing, Hydrology and Data Handling and Statistics. For many, it might sound crazy to have Data Handling and Statistics as one of my favourite classes, but it was one of the classes where I felt I learnt the most. I was able to leave that class with a brand new practical skill, using R Studio. Environmental Remote Sensing, was a subject I had never heard about before second year at University, but I found it fascinating. I was super happy to have the opportunity to learn more about it in third year, with the devoted module. I knew I had an initial interest in the subject of Hydrology, from previous school work I had done, but I found it interesting to learn more about water quality issues and the problems with sewage systems.

Fourth year, at times can feel like it is dominated by your dissertation, but I had two modules in particular that I extremely enjoyed. Biogeography, was a subject that I already knew I had a great interest in, but it was fantastic to have the opportunity to explore new ideas in more depth in the classroom (well online in this case). A pleasant surprise for me was how much I enjoyed by GIS (Geographical Information Systems) class. Honestly, I pretty much signed up for the class because I knew it would be an invaluable practical skill to have on my CV as an environmental science and geography graduate, but I thought I would struggle with the actual class. Instead, I was genuinely surprised at how much I enjoyed the class. I appreciated the step by step process of handling data and figuring out how to build a useful map from that data. In the end, I also felt accomplished having learned an entirely new practical skill.