I’m a chemistry major, so I heard about the difficulties that any student encounters when taking Organic Chemistry.
“This was the hardest class I’ve ever taken”, “I carry the textbook with me everywhere I go so I can do some catching up”, “I’m not even sure what day it is anymore”.
Ok guys, a little dramatic are we?
No. No they were not.
I used to think that this was just another class that I could float by in without doing any real sacrifice, and at first, I did. Or, I didn’t study well enough to say. My first test was nothing more than an average 75- to say I was appalled is an understatement. My next test, well, I was on the brink of failing the course if I maintained my current situation.
So, I had to do something that I was never required to do before; I had to see the professor during her office hours. I then visited her quite frequently to develop a positive relationship that encapsulated me in support. That helped, only slightly. It helped her notice that I was not taking this class lightly, but it was not helping my overall grade.
So, like my mother says, I had to “work smart, not hard”. I would write down everything on her PowerPoint slides verbatim, and then transcribe them onto flashcards in a way that made sense to me. I practiced the problem sets at least three times until I knew which reagent went with which reaction, the exact mechanisms, and the name for each reaction.
While anxiously awaiting to receive my third exam back after seeing all my peers’ faces drop after seeing their scores, I was uneasy as to whether or not I even wanted to receive my test at all.
No smile while giving the test back, no acknowledgment of my existence, just a professional exchanging of papers between professor and student.
I got an 85.
Anything above an 80 is the mecca of supremacy in Organic Chemistry, and I got an 85. My mother, my brothers, my roommates, everybody I knew got a call about my test scores, and they all had one thing to say.
“You deserve it”.
If there’s one thing that I learned from Organic Chemistry, it’s that practice makes perfect, and I was finally able to see that a pile of imperfections got me there.
