Arts & Sciences

The Fraklin College of Arts & Sciences at UGA always seemed like an unlikely combination to me.  Why were we lab nerds lumped with the artsy fartsy people with nose piercings?

I've recently realized that art and science are the same in a way.  They both involve something only inherent (I think) to humans -- delving into what is unnecessary for immediate survival needs.  I struggled with the "frivolity" of geologic research last year.  Why was I trying so hard, why was the government giving money out, to figure out how the Caribbean islands got where they are now, when there are sick and starving people in the world?  Yet, I never questioned the purpose and worth of a piece of music or painting.  Science for science's sake, discovery for discovery's sake is no more frivolous than expression for expression's sake.  Whether it is exercising our intellect to figure out why the land we live on stands here today or why that rock looks the way it does, or it is expressing our complex emotions and thoughts through a sculpture, we are celebrating and taking full advantage of our God-given gifts.

I also used to wonder why I thought Wegener's groundbreaking -- no pun intended -- theory of plate tectonics was significant to humanity, but not what happened to some Caribbean islands 70 million years ago.  Well, not every artist paints a Sistine Chapel or the Starry Night.  Not every painter is Picasso or Dali.  But are not our lesser-known local artists talented and important?  Don't their works also contribute to the expressions of humanity and influence other works in some way?  Likewise, whether it's landing a man on the Moon or finding out how a sea biscuit skeleton grows (actually went to such a talk and learned the true meaning of "excruciating detail"), a discovery is a discovery.  They each form a part of our knowledge base and influence other discoveries in some way.

A friend asked if I really wanted to be in school for the rest of my life.  I enjoy research, I really do so far.