Yes, I will regret this post by oh... Tuesday or so

Jan 12, 2006 00:43

One of my insecurities has always been my severe lack of hobbies. One of my least favorite questions is, "What do you do for fun?" Well, it's finally paying off. My non-existent outside-interests are going to make staying at lab all my waking hours a cinch. Why should I come home? All I'm going to do is browse the internet for hours and go to ( Read more... )

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Comments 8

rmpalpha January 12 2006, 16:23:40 UTC
I agree that the NMR class is completely forgetful and that it is very hard to stay awake while the teacher is lecturing. I don't know what to say about this class, though, since I don't use NMR as extensively as other chemists do.

The synthesis class is, I agree, a very tough class. It is difficult enough to see all of these reactions in the course handout and have the professor only cover a small fraction of them (even though these reactions are representative of most of the others in the course handout). The mechanisms are indeed important to remember (if not for this class, at least for the next organic chemistry class) - the ironic part is that the professor doesn't even test on the mechanisms!

Good luck with your classes, and I hope all is going well otherwise :-)

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flash cards! bluexsilencex January 12 2006, 16:49:21 UTC
use flash cards to memorize reactions. not those dinky little ones, the big ones so you can write the mechanisms and whatever useful information you may need on it. that's how some of the second years are studying for their prelims, so that might help you out.

good luck with paying attention and finding hobbies

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Re: flash cards! nucleophile January 13 2006, 09:17:29 UTC
I hear people have tried flashcards in the past, but there's just so much stuff it's impossible to memorize it all. Someone suggested learning the motifs in the class and then applying them on the exam. Not every answer will be right, but at least it's enough to pass the class.

I hope you can visit me in March on your prospective visit!

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quirkyfemme January 12 2006, 17:05:50 UTC
1. You cook and you read. Are those not hobbies?
2. Chemistry in itself is a hobby. Perhaps the academic part is not so fulfilling but the labby goodness is what keeps you going.
3. You should invest in a tivo or a replay, or a dvr-device. You have the money, and I say that you will benefit greatly from its use, especially when you are not in Lab or in class ;)
4. second the flash cards idea, or even just copying things down ad nauseum and then finally making acronyms like PATFO.

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nucleophile January 13 2006, 09:19:56 UTC
I suppose. But now I cook to eat and read to find out how to route my synthesis. ;)

I hope this lab goodness can keep me going. It's going to be a long 5 years otherwise.

I think I might opt for the laptop. It'll be a much more practical procrastination device, since I can bring it into lab with me and pretend to work on it.

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replymonkey January 12 2006, 21:16:27 UTC
If you wean yourself off sleep a little, you can get back on track to fulfill the prophecy of becoming "me, a few months late". Bienvenidos, 120 hour work week followed by 48 consecutive hours of semi-conscious tv sleep-watching. Just don't grow boobs. ew. If I could undo mine, I would. ctrl-Z. ctrl-Z. ctrl-Z. ctrl-Z. Damnit. Or maybe transform, scale, 50%. Useless computer ( ... )

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nucleophile January 17 2006, 02:20:06 UTC
I couldn't do 120 consecutive hours because, most importantly, my PI would expect me to be around for most of those remaining 48 hours, and also because he doesn't like us to stay in lab alone all night.

I think my lab is going to have a super bowl party.

I would get TiVo just for the Olympics, but then I'd have to keep it for a few months so I'd have enough time to watch everything.

Are bonsai trees (similar to) succulents? I suppose the paper mache hobby would be calming. I always figured it would rear its head during lulls in my life, but maybe it would be good amidst the stress.

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tragedy replymonkey January 17 2006, 05:07:08 UTC
ahso. I don't know if my chiefs would want us all around at all hours, but I think they got used to the idea of my being around at weird times simply because at the time I was their little fab-ninja, battling it out for good timeslots in the microlab. Synthetic situations are definitely different than analytical situations ( ... )

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