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Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Organic Chemistry's natural affinity to a love-hate bonding relationship with Students

I am a freshmen at CWRU enrolled in Organic Chemistry (capitalized because of its Godly Importance).\

I am taking several other courses towards a Biomedical Engineering degree, but they are all irrelevant compared to Ochem. My other classes are like the much older children of a mother who has just given birth to a precious new baby. Nobody cares or has time for the other children. The baby demands your full attention - actually, it ionically steals your attention.

It makes me stay up until 2am. It makes me cry when I just can't figure out the right confirmation. It makes me skip a meal. It makes me hold in my pee until I'm finished with an assignment. It makes me watch kitten videos and rom coms just to remind myself that happiness still exists.

But like a mother to her baby, I love it. It's fulfilling and gratifying. It trains your brain like no other subject, and it makes you smarter, more calculated, and logical.

It is a required course for pre-meds. Most of the pre-meds I have spoken to hate the fact. Ochem is the bane of their existence. They don't understand why they have to take it....And just a few years ago, they actually didn't have to.

It's a new requirement. And its generally known as the weed-out course for pre-meds. If you can't handle Ochem, maybe you're not ready to handle the stress of med school or of being a doctor.

And they - whoever makes up these rules - have a point. Organic chemistry requires judgement and decision-making. There are always several possible solutions, but there will always be one "major contributor", i.e. best solution given the "constituents" of the issue.

It requires logic and problem solving. An Ochem student must search through the library of their brain to knowledgeably assess the situation, narrow down options, and ultimately choose the most likely successful arrangement.

Logic, common sense, and judgement - three necessary components of a good doctor that the wrote memorization of a typical biology class will never teach you.

So, yes, it sucks.
But it's necessary and if you study it enough, you realize that it's beautiful.

Hang in there future Ochem students.
And read this article on Harvard Ochem: How to get an A- in Organic Chemistry

The irony of this post: I wrote this to distract myself from Ochem. I have an exam tomorrow...

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