A couple of months ago on Twitter, someone sent out a link to the Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH), which was about to open applications for their Intro to Sustainable Engineering class. I think it was @kaskadia – neither of us are sure, so I’m assigning the credit based on general awesomeness.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been in school. Or at least it feels like it. One of my friends had a baby just as I was finishing up college. Then I moved to DC. Then she moved to DC. Then she had another baby. Her first baby isn’t a baby any more. Her second isn’t really a baby either. This all makes me feel old and like school was a very long time ago.
I applied anyways, and I got in. The only thing I had to pay for was the textbook. The rest of the course is being funded (I believe) by the Swedish Government, so many thanks to them for providing this opportunity to a bunch of students from around the world.
It is an online course, coordinated by several grad students from one of BTH’s sustainability-oriented Masters programs. There are 26 other students from all around the world – only two from the US, which for some reason makes this all the more exciting for me.
I was really excited about the course until the textbook arrived. I flipped through it and… there are numbers and equations in there. I very deliberately overachieved in high school, which allowed me to cruise through college without seeing anything that resembled an equation. I was quite happy keeping it that way. But I’m going to have to retrieve the book from the freezer (please tell me someone else saw that episode of Friends), because I have to read Chapter 1 for next week.
I am hoping that some of the sustainability stuff will be a little familiar, to counterbalance the fact that the engineering stuff will be completely new. But I implore you all to stop me if I start throwing numbers and mathematical symbols around the blog. You can poke your eye out with those things, you know.
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/scubasteveo/ // CC BY-SA 2.0
Well, I doubt I could help you w/ the equations, but I work w/ plenty of engineers who probably could. Good luck w/ it–you’re braver than I!
I might take you up on that if things get too grim. But hopefully I can just move up, up and away from my fear of math!
Wow, this is very cool news! The fear of math is worse than the actual math. Just take it slow and be thorough – you’ll do fine (I have lots of confidence).
Maybe I can borrow some of your confidence if mine runs out!
Hi! Lionel told me about your blog so I thought I’d check it out. I just recently started a blog myself about my attempts at taking responsibility for my actions and the environment.
I’m happy this class exists and admire you for taking it even if you think the numbers aren’t your thing! Looking forward to reading more!
Thanks so much for stopping by, Lyndsie. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Good luck with your new blog and with your journey towards measuring the impact of your choices. I’ve found it to be a great adventure.
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