Last semester I learned a lot in organic chemistry. The most valuable thing I believe we did in class was the poster and presentation for the lab final.
We worked in teams of six for the experiment, and our final product was a poster that everyone understood and could explain in detail. We had a class presenation where all six of us spoke on a certain part of the lab, and then a final presentation in which we recorded ourselves speaking and turned it in for individual assessment.
This is the final poster presentation, in which we found that the electrophile Iodoethane produced the greatest percent yield due to it having the least amount of steric effects. This is because the other electrophiles had larger carbon chains.
Under this page is all of the things I’ve compiled from my different classes – from reflections at the end of semesters, to projects that I believe are worth while!
UNE is the only school that I truly wanted to go to. It’s the place that I looked at, and thought that I would fit in best.
In COVID times, I have been told that things have changed a lot here. I was very much looking forward to the clubs here, as I am such an outdoors person. However, everything has been on zoom lately.
This does not mean that I am unhappy with my choice. I love it here – the schoolwork has kept me busy this sesmter, but I managed by going to the beach for yoga and morning sunrises/sunsets. There’s still ways of finding time outdoors, you just have to look for it a little harder.
Here are links to the things that have impacted me the most!
This was by far my hardest class this semester. It was extremely difficult because it is not all like any class I have taken before.
It’s not about memorizing specific things, but overall trends so that we can answer any question by problem solving with what we know. I struggled with this not only because of the change from different classes, but also because I have never had to work this hard for a class before.
I loved the class when I knew what I was doing, but got so frustrated when I didn’t. I loved the labs and felt accomplished when I did them right, yet I was so nervous to start them.
See, I learned a lot of content, as well as life skills in this class. Being someone who gets frustrated when I don’t get things on the first try was not helping me. Neither was being someone who gave up. This class, like experiments, are all trial and error.
Chemists don’t give up when their experiements go wrong – it is a happy failure. This is more than just a way to look at chemistry. It’s a way to look at life as a whole. When things don’t go the way I plan in life, I find a new way around it. This is something that I’ve learned I need to push myself to do within my school work, which has been mainly started and progressed within this class.
