On new classes (and stress)

Hi there, new semester! My stress level at the thought of new classes, labs and exams is surprisingly low at the moment, but I’m afraid it’ll build up soon. First lab day is on the fifth of February, and I’m anticipating some minor panic attacks over having to write laboratory logs every other week. Oh, well, I’ve begun to get used to that by now.

This semester, I’ve decided to spend more time with friends, exercise more (it helps both my mood and the previously mentioned stress level) and, just, do more of the things I like. Last semester sort of drowned in studying, or stress over lack of studying, and I don’t want that happening again.

It helps that one of my classes this semester is quickly turning into my favourite ever, and that’s even before the lectures have started. It’s called “Molecular Driving Forces”, and I know that doesn’t exactly sound like fun, but I’ve always been interested in why things happen. In this subject, it’s all about the whys: why diffusion, pressure, elasticity, etc… happen. I just hope my lack of advanced maths knowledge won’t be a problem. The (awesome) textbook has a lot of “Math Tool Kits”, but those chapters aren’t on the syllabus, and I’m not that good a student that I read outside what I have to.

In other news, I decided that this was the semester I would colour my lab coat red, a long standing plan of mine. But then the washing machine decided to go on strike. As I was trying to colour the coat. It came out looking like I’d killed someone, and after an attempt to bleach it, it’s now spotted pink. Which is not a look I want to sport. So I’m currently hoping my boyfriend will let me use his washing machine to colour it again. And if Murphy decides to rear his ugly head once more, I’m going to punch him in the face.

Einstein and Eddington (and I’m a huge geek)

I think I’ve mentioned previously that I’m a big big fan of David Tennant? Not just in Doctor Who, but in general, I find him a fantastic actor. I’ve also been (still am, really) a major Lord of the Rings geek.

And I love science. So you can probably imagine how much I enjoyed BBC’s Einstein and Eddington, starring Tennant as English physicist Eddington, and Andy Serkis (of Gollum-fame) as Albert Einstein.

Eddington (Tennant) and Einstein (Serkis)
Image from Times Online

Tennant was great as always, but I have to say Serkis overshadowed him a bit (it might have had to do with the characters they were portraying, though). I feel bad for actually being surprised at this, but I’ve always thought Serkis a bit over the top in the few non-CG parts I’ve seen him in. Here, however, he was really good, and I liked how he portrayed Einstein as a human being, rather than just an eccentric genius.

Any movie where the main plot involves stuff like The General Theory of Relativity has the potential of getting a bit boring, but I really never thought it was. Then again, I’m the one who went OMG when Max Planck was introduced. Because, well, Quantum Mechanics.

All in all, it was a great movie, and I think it was a good idea for me to watch it as a break from exam-preparation. The exam on Monday was in my favourite subject (Physical Chemistry), and earlier I was finding it hard to motivate myself to study for next Tuesday’s exam in Inorganic Chemistry, because I just don’t find it as interesting. After watching this movie I got a lot more inspired.

Because, you know how people daydream about becoming a famous artist/actor/whatever? I actually daydream about dedicating my life to science and contributing to the field of Chemistry.

Which is so incredibly silly and nerdy that I’m a bit embarrassed to write it here. But, hey, whatever motivates me to study must good?

Completely unrelated: I’m usually not a fan of RnB, but I’ve always enjoyed Beyonce’s music, and I have to say this song is really catchy.

State of brain: DED

I can’t seem to get my act together to post anything because my head is currently stuffed with equilibrium equations and standard reduction potentials.

First exam on Monday.

I’ll catch you on the flipside.

Why I don’t like labs

It’s kind of ironic, really. I’m a Bachelor of Chemistry student, and I DETEST laboratory work.

It’s not the concept in itself, per se, just a combination of things that might be particular to my University. Papers with guidelines that leave out important information, and don’t explain things properly. Repetitive and boring tasks. And, of course, laboratory logs that take 10 hours MINIMUM to finish. They eat up your weekend and are a constant source of stress because numbers don’t make sense, and you can’t find any troubleshooting help in mentioned guideline papers.

I could have finished my logs this weekend. However, my results don’t make sense, and I can’t figure out what the error margins are for most of my calculations.

Argh.