Alexis Sugden
My Interests: Part One
(Chemistry, Astronomy/ Space and Design)
Written on 13th September 2022
This article is the first of a multiple part series where I go into detail about many of my interests, to talk about why I’m interested in them and what they mean to me. This specific page will take you through my interests for Chemistry then Astronomy then Design.
🧪 Chemistry ⚛
Chemistry is something that has affected my life since day one, as it has with everyone, we’ve been consuming food and drink substances since before we were even born, we use chemicals substances to wash ourselves, and our bodies are chemical labyrinths which constantly expose us to novelties and theories. But for me chemistry is something more than this, something which I feel I am obliged to try and get to grips with, or at least have a basic understanding of.
More recently I’ve taken on a closer interest to the subject, as I chose to study it at A-Level. At the time of writing, I’ve just started my second year of A-Level, and I already feel as though I understand much more about the things I use, consume and come into contact with on a daily basis. I’m genuinely happy about this, as I’m beginning to get to grips with the glue that creates and holds together everything we know to exist. No, it’s not necessary information to know in order to survive, but for me that’s not the point, as I feel I should understand at least a little bit about everything that affects me and many others on a daily basis.
It’s hard for me to say which sub-sections of Chemistry I enjoy the most, as I find every bit of it just as engaging as the next, and naturally because I enjoy it I’m able to learn more about the field and put much more effort in, without it feeling like a chore.
Much of my interest is spurred on by the reading of new science magazines and the watching of different documentaries, which often put the theoretical chemistry I learn in school into a bit more real life context. I’m glad about this as I always try to see the bigger picture of things and paint a picture for myself as to where things are positioned in comparison to everything else in the world.
The endless cycle of new discoveries is what makes this such an interesting field, and I don’t feel there will ever be a point in time where we can sit down and say “We’ve discovered it all”, because how would we know?
For me this idea of endless discovery gives the field an unusual sense of achievement, and an aura or sensation that we are always working towards something new and important. Although I’m not physically at the heart of these new scientific discoveries and not in the industry myself, I feel I can be a part of the percentage of the population who understands what these discoveries could mean for our future.
Moving on from this, I have recently started to look more deeply at the way chemicals can potentially help us solve issues related to climate change. We often here talk of dangerous chemicals and substances damaging our environment, but it seems little is mentioned of the way they can help us create solutions and curb some of the effects which are already at play.
To summarise, I take interest in Chemistry because it helps me to understand the bigger picture (Or in this case, the smaller picture) of the many different things which I experience daily, read about and become exposed to from documentaries. But more importantly now, I feel that chemistry holds a lot of the answers to solving climate change, which we should all be taking on board.
🚀 Astronomy and Space 🌌
Astronomy is a type of science which focuses on studies to do with celestial objects, space and the universe as a whole. This is similar to, but not to be confused with Astrology, which I confused initially, until I found out that Astrology relates more to the way humans perceive space and stars, such as zodiac signs and the positions of celestial objects, and what they may mean to us. Although I still find Astrology somewhat interesting, the fact that ASTRONOMY is based more upon scientific research than conspiracy and spirituality, makes it that much more interesting to me. This can partly explain my greater liking for non-fiction books than those of fiction.
The universe we see from earth (with the naked eye) is just a tiny fraction of the total universe we believe to exist, and this is what fascinates me. It seems that space will always be something we consider as an unknown, in the respect that it is so big (if not infinitely big), that we can never be sure if we’ve discovered it all. Stars and planets fill the sky, and are visible to the naked eye on a clear night. Sitting outside at night and gazing up is one of the most peaceful yet intimidating experiences for me, it’s the strange feeling of being so calm and at rest with where I am physically, but be observing something that is so unexplainably big and powerful. For me, the night sky has an uncanny ability to get my hooked on curiousness, without me even knowing. Therefore I would say it is one of my true pleasures in life.
Most of my interest comes from the times I’ve been sat outside with my Dad, sometimes we talk, sometimes we don’t, but we are both on the same train of thought (What on earth are we even looking at?), which, almost by telepathy can unconsciously build bonds between people, and I love that.
My Dad is a keen stargazer, and although he or I are not experts in the field, we are still able to discuss deep topics with regards to space and Astronomy. I think this is primarily due to the pure sense of nothingness that we can observe, whilst still being aware of the true scale of the unknown in front of us. I feel that having a close family member with a deep interest in something can automatically programme my brain to take interest in a similar field.
I recently did a stint of stargazing in the French alps whilst on a 2 week scout trip there, (Below is a picture taken from that trip). Somehow it allowed me to connect with people on a level that I don’t believe is easily accessible during the day. It’s weird to feel the effects that looking at so much nothing can have on the human brain (I wonder if all animals feel the same). For me it’s almost like a brain detox, I’m thinking about so much, yet sensing so little, I feel creative on an unmatched level, yet my mind becomes blank once I try to recall these eccentric ideas, and the views of odd constellations and shapes become distant memories within minutes of the experience.
Although I don’t normally like to fully switch off from my daily life and commitments, I take great pleasure in clearing my mind to focus on the night sky. It may seem that I’m a simple human to please, and that is probably true, but it doesn’t stop me from enjoying the small things in life, or in this case, the "infinitely" big things in life. Switching off from the outside world is something that I think many people wish they could do more of, and for me I am glad that I can find that escape anywhere I travel, just by looking up.
Fear of the unknown is a common trait, and to some extent it is true for me, but I think that adds another reason for me to be interested in space, as I constantly question any and everything that the night sky has to offer. I suppose a fear of the unknown can be seen as an “anticipation that something bad might happen”. There are plenty of videos on YouTube and Social Media which expose us to endless amounts of conspiracy theories or extra-terrestrial contact, for example, but in a lot of respects these stories seem so far fetched that we should never be worried about them. These are the types of stories which I find interesting to discuss, is there life in other forms?, do aliens exist?, is space endless? These are all things which are talked about globally, and it’s this sense of ominousness which stands out to me. I could talk for hours and hours with the right person, contemplating the wildest and most fairy-tale possibilities, none of these conversations would actually achieve anything noticeable, but they are the sorts of things that can engage me like no other.
One of the other reasons that space interests me, is the work that people and countries are doing to explore further and deeper than we ever have done before. Many people will have heard of Space X, the American Spacecraft Corporation, lead by Elon Musk, who’s mission is to get people to mars and enable people to live on other planets. This man alone has sparked much of my interest and along with all the other things I have
accessible during the day.
Besides this, there are constant efforts from scientists and observers to try and understand the actual scale of our universe, to discover the science behind black holes for example, and put a name to many other phenomena that occur. Consequently, it doesn’t take long for me to become engrossed in a conversation on this topic, as I aspire to learn more and delve deeper into the fanatics that occur outside our atmosphere.
📝 Design 🌁
Design, the art of planning, sketching and formulating a product or an idea. This can cover many, if not all, industries on the planet, and this is what I like about it. The two fields of design which particularly interest me are Product Design and Architecture. Much of my interest for design is derived from my natural curiosity of the way things in our world work. Understanding how things are designed and made, can often help me to understand the way a lot of things work. As a young child I watched programmes like “How it’s made?” which, although I didn’t understand much of the terminology, gave me a visual representation of what goes into the making of everyday objects. Without a doubt, I have carried these interests with me to later parts of my life, exploring many different types of design including, but not limited to, logo design, AutoCAD and delving in and out of Minecraft worlds. Primarily for me, design is interesting as I suppose it lets me express my ideas visually, and in my own time, rather than counting on other people to listen to my verbal explanations. This helps me get my point across in a more effective way, as I expend my effort and time, but hopefully not too much time on each individual part of the process, making sure that the journey is actually taking me in the right direction.
For large portions of my life, I was convinced I wanted to become an Architect, I would often take more notice of a building itself than its contents, and many buildings around the world still baffle me as to how they were created. Despite my dreams of becoming an Architect fading, I am still hugely interested in the industry. I won’t talk an incredible amount about Architecture, as I feel there are other aspects of design which I take pride of interest in a lot more. Nevertheless, I will always be interested in the practice of designing houses, buildings and monuments, as it encompasses much more than just a few drawings and bit of handy-work. Below are some 2-point-perspective drawings that I worked on during the height of my interest for architecture, courtesy of many YouTube tutorials of course.
Moving on to Product Design, it’s about the most creative I will ever get. I take Design Technology as one of my A-Level subjects, and it’s currently one of the only times in my life where I’ll actually pick up a pencil and draw, take on practical handy-work and engage my “right brain” (the expressive and creative part of the brain). I’m also vividly aware of the many skills I gain from taking part in design processes, such as planning, gathering market research and developing trial and error techniques. But the most important lesson I’ve learnt from design processes, is that of not letting “Paralysis by analysis” bog me down when things get a slight bit tough. I’d say I learnt this lesson at the age of 16, when I was working on a Design process for my GCSE Deign Technology course. I spent much too much time overthinking things which didn’t need to be overthought, and drained lots of useful energy trying to make things which didn’t need to be perfect, perfect. Although eventually the project didn’t turn out bad at all, to put it in technical terms, I didn’t get a good ROI on the time and effort I had put in.
This lesson became especially apparent to me when I took part in the RSA Pupil Design Awards 2022 during my first year of A-Level (Year 12). The PDA’s are a nationwide design competition for secondary and university age students, where I eventually ended up as a top 3 finalist out of around 300 schools in the Year 12 category. (Below are photos of the finalists leaflet, and the Awards Ceremony at the RSA house in London). I feel that much of my success from this competition was down to the lessons I learnt from previous attempts at design processes. Predominantly during this competition I favoured consistent forward action rather than deep analysis and perfection, which I felt allowed the process to flow more freely for me, and eventually result in a more successful outcome. Not getting bogged down with simple tasks is something I’m proud of from this project, and the more I kept the ball rolling by carrying out consistent forward movements, regardless of the perfection, the more I started to notice positive changes. Initially, these changes remained small and barely noticeable, but as time advanced, these positive changes also advanced and grew bigger than I’d originally expected. I’m glad I’ve learnt this lesson at a young age, as I can already see the benefits that it is bringing to multiple areas of my life, and I have no doubt that it will continue to work wonders for me in the future.
Design for me is not necessarily all about the enjoyment of the work itself and the actual doing of it. It’s more about the small lessons I learn during the journey and take away from it. Design Technology for me, especially at school, has taught me many things which I feel can apply more to real life than within an actual design process. I suppose all these lessons that I’m learning are helping to design the life and future that I truly want.
It could be said that my true interest for design comes from the continuous learning process that it offers. All of the new skills, perspectives and techniques that I am exposed to can be applied to many other walks of my life. I’m a huge advocate of embracing the lessons (Big or Small) that I learn, and applying them to as many different things as possible. This technique suits me well, I think.