Julia Caci
Writing 101: Primate Play and Growing Up
Instructor: Kerry Ossi-Lupo
Biography
Growing up, I saw science as a panacea. I marveled at the way that it gave us lightbulbs, antibiotics, and FaceTime. As an aspiring physician, I couldn’t wait to harness this science to help people. At college, I imagined I’d prepare for this with classes in organic chemistry and biology classes, not writing.
But then COVID hit, and our society buckled under the weight of the pandemic. I was struck by the way that, in a world with satellites on Mars and laparoscopic surgery, science alone was not enough to solve our problems. I was frustrated with those who seemed unphased with this failure —and viewed COVID death as some sort of unavoidable inconvenience rather than a preventable tragedy.
In Dr Ossi-Lupo’s Writing 101 class, Primate Play and Growing Up, I learned about not only the importance of primatology, but also the limits of science. We examined the value of doing good science as well as how to communicate that science to the public. I learned that science itself is just a tool—and that it alone can’t shape society. The way that science is applied, however, makes all the difference. I realized that our failure to tame COVID-19 wasn’t a failure of science, but rather a failure to optimize and report its findings.
I’d like to thank Dr. Ossi-Lupo for challenging us to look critically at the scientific process and for making every class so engaging. I’m grateful for her endless support and advice as I pieced my thoughts together in this essay. I’d also like to thank the Deliberations editorial board for their wonderful feedback, and Sheryl for her thoughtful edits and the opportunity to share my work with a broader audience.