When I was an undergraduate student, I was required to take a science course of my choosing. My regional university had many mediocre students, so it offered a course that I thought of as science for dummies. I had no interest in science and wanted to get high grades, so I took it. We learned about lasers during part of the unit. The other part involved watching science fiction movies. I liked the movies. i earned a pass in the pass-fail course. 

 

Years later I developed a strong interest in science. I earned a PhD in clinical psychology and started doing scientific research. 

 

Now I regularly read science magazines, e.g., New Scientist and Science Illustrated. I also read online science articles and some science-related books, e.g., The Body, by Bill Bryson. 

 

Looking back i wonder whether that dummy science course helped me become interested in science. That conclusion would fit with this old quote: “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” Maybe that science class lit a fire inside me.