I took a Quantum Physics class as an English major

All I could think of when I was sitting in on Dr. Alan Wuosmaa’s Physics 2300 lecture (Development of Quantum Physics) was “What am I doing here?”

I usually tend to stay as far from any science or math class as possible. But last week I successfully navigated my way through MSB so I could sit in on a lecture about Quantum Physics, and I did so willingly.

When Dr. Wuosmaa launched into his lecture I was immediately, completely and utterly, lost. I felt like George Clooney when he cuts himself loose to save Sandra Bullock and starts drifting away into space alone in Gravity.

I had no idea what Dr. Wuosmaa was writing on the white board, and the words he used had never been heard by these ears (exactly like every other science class I’ve ever taken). However, his students seemed to be following the lecture quite well, they asked questions and I only caught a couple checking their texts.

Students could barely contain their excitement

It was surprising to see so many people actively engaged in what the professor had to say.  I dreaded entering this classroom but the students who sat around me seemed entirely content sitting in MSB for an hour and a half to learn about physics. It’s a testament to how different the minds of our fellow students are.

While many of my English colleagues may share my distaste for all classes relating to science, there are probably some readers who are actually excited to learn about the probability of a particle passing through a barrier.

A large portion of the lecture was dedicated to Quantum Tunneling. I tried to focus on the importance of this concept (something about a particle passing through a barrier) but I couldn’t stop thinking about how to best make a sex joke using the phrase “Quantum Tunneling.”

Dr. Wuosmaa wrote a lot of equations on the board and used a variety of slides which I didn’t get and weren’t even sure if they were real.

I’m sure any of the students in this class could easily follow my Shakespeare professor but I was absolutely lost.  At least in Shakespeare we use the English language, even if it is harder to read, we always have Sparknotes. Is there a Sparknotes equivalent for Quantum Physics? If so, I definitely needed it.

So instead of trying to follow the lecture I spent an hour and a half of dozing off and the lecture ended.

Did I learn anything? No. But it was a nice reminder of why I should stay an English major.