The Most Interesting Things I've Learned in High School

Throughout my four years of high school I have filled my brain with all sorts of knowledge ranging from art to chemistry. However, there were a few things that I learned that topped them all and here is that list.

1) How to sequence DNA. I learned this in my A.P. Biology class and was absolutely fascinated. There are machines that can pull nucleotides through a gel and, depending on how fast they traveled, could determine the original genetic sequence of the sample. It was quite amazing.

2) How the economy works. In my economics class we studied the government's role in our economy. It was amazing to see how much influence they can have to help the economy. The government usually does this by increasing/decreasing taxes, increasing/decreasing government spending, and increasing/decreasing the money supply. The effects of these changes are quite astonishing and can be used to turn the economy around during this time of recession.

3) Our Earth Needs us. In my religion class, we reviewed ethical dilemmas and one of the biggest ones was the environment. My eyes were opened to how much of an impact humans have on the environment. Not only are we emitting carbon dioxide into the air, we are killing off species that are vital to their ecosystems. We all rely on each other and each species influences the other. This is the basis of an ecosystem. We may like our tiger pelts and shark fin soup today, but in a couple of years, we may not be eating various plants or sea food.

There is a short list of all the many interesting things I learned over my high school career. I hope to learn even more about these subjects and others as I continue on in college and hopefully will be able to use this knowledge to my benefit.