That’s because I’m taking Organic Chemistry this semester.
I haven’t updated in quite some time, and that’s because I’ve had my head down and studying LIKE A MADWOMAN for the past 8 months. I finished General Chemistry 1 and 2, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Genetics, US History 2 (I know…huh??), and even a bit of calculus. But, even that will pale in comparison to the mother of all science classes…the dreaded O-Chem. I had to enroll at UT (aw…shucks! \m/ ) this semester because ACC did not have an evening class available. And WHAT A DEAL this is turning out to be. My professor is a newly-minted PhD, but has taught the class several times over as a grad student, she runs the same type of course outline as the professor who wrote our text…who also teaches at UT and has a huge website of information available, and there are a total of 16 of us in the class…as opposed to the section she teaches during the day with…wait for it…400 STUDENTS!! WOW!! Did I mention that I’ve read more positive reviews about organic chemistry classes that this UT professor teaches than I’ve EVER READ? I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone actually say they liked it. Not the case here, apparently! What a relief!!
I feel like I’ve really lucked out over the last few semesters, both at ACC and now at UT. I’ve had some really outstanding professors who are able to devote a lot of time to smaller groups of students, and I’ve probably learned more than a lot of the kids in the 400 student classes. Not to say that it’s not possible to learn the material in a class with that many other students, but I’ve been there before, and it’s so much easier to have a meaningful discussion about course material when you aren’t scared to death of embarrassing yourself in front of 400 of your closest friends. For that matter, it’s so much easier to have a discussion when your professor can actually spot you in the classroom when you are raising your hand and you’re not in a sea of faces.
Two of my classes (Cellular and Molecular Biology, and now, Organic Chemistry) were / are taught by UT faculty who were/are teaching the SAME EXACT MATERIAL to me that they were / are teaching to their mega-sections. With the Cell Bio class, the professor has consistently been voted Professor of the Year by UT students…even when they WERE in the 400 student classes. And I had him at ACC (he enjoys teaching so much, he picks up a weekend bio class there to help out the school), paid a 1/3 of the price, and got to pick his brain until I couldn’t think of anything else to ask him! Awesome!! And, another excellent class that I just loved at ACC was my Anatomy Class, which I took last fall. That was my first biology class in 15 years (and I had been in the mega-section classes back then), and I just kept thinking to myself, “where has this class BEEN all my life?!??” This was one where I had an online professor who was very dedicated to helping us any way that she could, was very responsive to questions and email, and despite the lecture portion of the class being distance, it was easy to see that she had a passion for the subject matter, and also, seeing her students do well. Our lab was just as awesome. We had a second professor who taught that lab, who actually went to med school prior to becoming a college professor. Boy, did I have fun with her!! She was such a great resource of information on everything from anatomy to medical school admissions. There were several times where she stayed more than an hour after our class period was over (and this was already a 4 hour class!!), and would answer anything I could think of…”How did you study for the MCAT?” “What are my chances of acceptance?” “What was the best thing about medical school?” “How do the nerves reconnect to a transplanted artery after coronary bypass surgery?” “Let’s talk about epipheseal plates…” “Did you hear that the guy whose life is the basis for the character in ‘Rain Man’ had no corpus callosum, and they think that could be why he could remember everything that he did?!??” Yep…this is how my brain works and what I think about, and no matter what I threw at her, she was more than willing to answer my questions as best she could.
So…it has been a little crazy. And it IS going to get a little more crazy with Organic Chemistry. But, I feel like I’ve got all the tools and support in place due to great professors. I’ll do well well in the class as long as I put in the effort. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to post much this semester, but if something interesting comes up, and I come up for air from my textbooks long enough to write a quick note about it, I definitely will. :)
Until then… ;)
