Naushin Khan - An Unexpected Journey

 

Raise your hand if you ever hated your high school science class, especially chemistry. [audience cheers and affirms] 

 

Yeah. When I was in 10th grade, I also hated my chemistry class. Sitting in the classroom, I used to think, why do I have to learn all these complex chemistry words like oxidation, reduction, specto, something, something? We don't see those words in our environment. There is no connection. We don't use them. They're pointless. When I entered into 11th grade, I had to take that subject test for chemistry. I was so frustrated, because I never had a good relationship with chemistry, but I still had to take it. Sitting in the testing center for three hours, I was so pissed. [audience laughter] I don't even remember what the test was about as it just bubbled random answers. [audience laughter] 

 

So, my sister came to the testing center to pick me up. When she saw me very gloomy, she decided to take me to the Central Park to give me some therapy to forget the test. [audience laughter] When I went to the park, she handed me a camera to take pictures. So, I was running around in the park holding a camera, and I saw a lake full of green water. I was like, “Wow, green water. I did not know there was green water before.” [audience laughter] When I saw that water, I went touch it. [audience laughter] Then my sister shouted, “Hey, stupid, do you not see the sign beside the lake that says ‘Dangerous Algal blooms. Please don't contact with the water.’” I was like, “Wow, this glowing beautiful water could be that dangerous. It even can give me skin disease. That's unbelievable.” [audience laughter] 

 

Few days later, I was accepted to an internship. And the internship was called Sustainable Energy. I thought I would be learning about planting trees and how to save energy. So, I'm excited. I went to the first day of the internship and I was shocked. It's all chemistry. [audience laughter] I was thinking, oh, God, I did not sign up for this. [audience laughter] My professor gives an assignment to conduct an experiment and research that would somehow benefit the environment using all chemistry. [audience laughter] But because we have to do it, I remembered my day at the Central Park where the water was all dangerous because of harmful algal blooms. 

 

So, my team and I decided to conduct some research by collecting those water to see if we can somehow make that water into something that would be beneficial for the environment. After conducting six weeks of research, I realized the words that I used to hate in my chemistry class, like specto something, something, now became my favorite word. Because it is spectrophotometry [audience laughter] that helped me to turn that harmful algal bloom affected water into biofuel, which would benefit the environment. And this way. we were able to take the harmful substance off the water and turn them into something that would produce less carbon dioxide into the environment and use them as a biofuel to run our cars. 

 

I was like, “Wow, [audience laughter] it's all chemistry.” [audience laughter] I never even thought chemistry was all around us like that before. I thought to myself, why did I still think in my chemistry class that science is so boring, that there is no connection of chemistry in our environment when there is. We just don't think about it, but hey, it is those oxidation words that gives us invisible ink, which maybe you know. [audience laughter] And it is antioxidation that keeps our fruits fresh. Oxidation that lets us turn these lights. Still, why do you think we hate science? Do we not like these stars? We use science all the time. We do love science, although we tell ourselves we don't. 

 

So, after that experience, this time I took my sister to the Central Park and I took her near to that lake and she shouted again, “Hey, Naushin, do you not remember I told you that lake is dangerous, you're going to get skin disease?” I looked at her and I told her, “Do you know how much biofuel you can produce from this lake?” [audience laughter] She looked at me was like, “Wow, so you like science now?” I was like, “Yes. You know why? Because every day I drink polar covalent hydrogen bonds,” [audience laughter] which is simply water. Thank you.