Tag Archives: lab

A Non-Traditional Chemistry Thesis

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Hello to my fellow Scrippsies and congratulations on making it to the (almost) end of the semester!! It’s crazy how fast this semester has gone by, and I can’t believe that I’ll be back in Claremont this spring. I’m definitely getting sad about leaving Dublin, but am very excited to rejoin everyone on campus and, let’s be honest, enjoy some of that SoCal sunshine. Hopefully everyone is practicing some good health care routines this finals season and I wish you well on your endeavors.

This past week has been exciting for me, as I have officially confirmed with my professor that I will not need to do lab research this summer in order to write my thesis.

For those who do not know, chemistry students often complete their thesis by conducting research in a lab setting and then write about their findings. As I know that I do not want to go to graduate school for chemistry after I graduate, I asked my professor what other options I might have for fulfilling these requirements, and he assured me that I would not have to complete research in a lab if I feel it didn’t pertain to my future goals. As a result, I have been thinking about ways to combine my love for chemistry and other fields that I hope to pursue in the future.

If you have been keeping up with my posts, you know that I spent time teaching science classes to elementary school kids last summer, and that I absolutely loved it. When I learned that I wouldn’t have to do research in a lab this summer, I immediately thought about going back to teach at this school. When I emailed my professor, asking if he thought there might be a way to include teaching in my thesis, he gave a resounding YES. At Keck, there is something called a library thesis where students have the opportunity to do research outside of the lab, on a chemistry topic of their choosing. I am not sure of the details yet, but if I wanted to teach, my professor told me that I would be able to write a library thesis. This is exciting for me, as teaching is something that I’ve always seen myself doing in the future, however distant it might be.

He also mentioned that a professor at Keck has done work in pedagogical studies, and I have since reached out to her in order to get more information and to see if it would be something I might want to do my thesis on. Either way, I have options as to what I will be doing for my research and I am very excited about both prospects.

I often feel that other fields within chemistry, or that involve chemistry, are forgotten amidst the multitude of graduate programs, so I’m happy to be branching out and finding some overlap between two things I love. If anyone has any questions for me regarding STEM classes, thesis, or ways to combine science with other disciplines, please don’t hesitate to reach out! Good luck on finals, and I will see you next semester!

Final Papers and Summer 2018 Plans

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Based on my time spent here at Trinity and the number of assignments I have turned in, you would think I had done absolutely nothing since arriving here. The truth is, I have read nearly ten full length books, in addition to poetry and other excerpt readings, but have not had any essays to turn in. For many courses at Trinity, your only assessment is a final paper at the end of the semester. Some courses have final exams as well, but as a visiting student I only need to submit a paper by December 15. During the former part of the semester, this fact made my time feel much more leisurely, as I was just focused on completing the readings assigned to me and, when I could, reading ahead. This made my weekends freer and I could relax, spend time with friends, and even travel! Now, as the end of the semester is looming, I am realizing just how much work I have to do before I leave (similar to how Joey must have felt in this scene).

Because the credit system is different in Ireland and I have to take enough credits to be considered a full time student back at Scripps, I am taking six courses. This means that I have to write six essays by December 15.

As I mentioned in some of my earlier posts, professors have distributed essay topics and even had assignments where we were required to think about our topics and even write an outline for what we wanted to discuss. I have just had another professor do this and I am very grateful to him for it because it will help give me some extra motivation to get a start on some rather daunting deadlines.

While on the topic of looking towards the future, I have started thinking about what I might want to do during summer 2018. Although it seems far off, applications for internships and lab positions are already being posted, many of which are due early next semester. If only applying was as easy as the gif below suggests. 

Because I am a chemistry major, I will need to do research in a lab that I will later write my thesis on. I have found many programs that offer lab positions for undergraduate students that I am interested in, where the next step is to figure out which ones I will apply to. My list is currently very long, so I will need to narrow it down. I found a position through the National Institute for Health that I am particularly interested in, as it focuses on public health, something that I have been interested in learning more about.

My current worry is whether or not that would produce enough hard data for me to write my thesis on it. If not, I have many other options, and may even end up in Claremont to do my research. This is when I am very grateful that I have the advisor I do, as I know he will be supportive in helping me make a decision that best suits my academic interests and future goals. I am also grateful for the other resources that Scripps provides in helping with these sorts of decisions, such as CP&R, which has helped me with internship applications in the past.

If you are worried about summer plans, please know that you have a kindred spirit in me. If you are feeling lost, please don’t hesitate to contact me or the staff at CP&R. That’s what they’re there for, and they are awesome! Cheers to the final weeks!

STEM Abroad

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I know that most people are looking forward to fall break, but I am in the midst of my third week here at Trinity and am just getting settled into my classes, or so I thought. Prior to coming to campus, I intended on taking two biochemistry courses, which were approved by the department head at Keck and by the SAGE office at Scripps. I was excited to have the opportunity to take science courses at a larger university and experience a different environment in lectures and in labs. What I found out after registering for the courses, was that the courses were designed specifically for international students and would not have any lab portion to them. 

At first, this was exciting news! I wouldn’t have to take any labs, in addition to my lectures, which would mean more free time during the week and less time in class. What I began to realize as I mulled this over, was that I might have a harder time getting these courses approved by Scripps, now that I had this new information.

For science courses, they generally need to align with another course at Keck in order for them to transfer and replace a specific course. I was hoping that my course entitled “Protein Structure” could take the place of “Biochemistry” at Keck, but would only cover about two thirds of the content at home, so would not be eligible for a direct replacement. The other course, entitled “Cell and Membrane Biology” was similar; there was not enough overlap between it and “Cell Biology” at Keck. Additionally, there is a lab portion required for the course at Keck, but not for international students at Trinity. In any event, I ended up having to drop these two courses, trading them in for two English courses, which I am very excited to be taking. The moral of this story is that often, study abroad programs are not tailored to science students, and there are very few places where the expectations for assessments and labs will match up with those at Keck or other universities in the United States. That was another factor in my decision to drop the courses. At Trinity, you take one final at the end of the semester, and that decides your entire grade. To me, that sounded very stressful, and quite frankly, I am glad that I don’t have to go through that experience.

As of now, my schedule is much more free, but I know that I will be very busy fulfilling my major requirements when I come back in the spring. Although it may be stressful to be taking more science courses at the same time, I think that it would’ve been more stressful to try to adapt to the system that they have over here, in regards to assessments.

Studying abroad has presented many challenges already – getting used to a new registration system, learning the ins and outs of navigating a larger campus, and learning to feel comfortable with 150 other people in a lecture hall – but I’m excited by the opportunities I have had so far and am interested to see how I feel about science after a semester off from it.

Finding Good Things in the Strangest Places

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The CORE program is a unique sequence in Scripps College’s curriculum. In the first semester of the freshman year, the class incorporates different disciplines and many different professors who are experts in different areas. All freshman students share a universal experience when reading the same material and listening to the same lectures. But on discussion days, the class is broken into sections of fifteen people, led by one of the professors. Discussion classes vary greatly and are very dependent upon the professor and their style.

A freshman class lecture for the Core class.

A freshman class lecture for the Core class.

Over the summer, I checked the Scripps portal and was surprised that my discussion professor was a neuroscience professor. As I am on the science track, I was excited that I was going to have a scientific perspective in a humanities based class. I was also hopeful that he could act as another academic adviser or mentor for me.

My professor exceeded these hopeful wishes. I met with my professor several times after I submitted a less-than-satisfactory paper (it happens to the best of us). In these office hours and meetings, I not only improved my paper, I got to know my professor well. Because we are both fascinated and interested in exploring the natural world, our conversations ultimately turned to the subject of neuroscience.

In one of our meetings, he offered me a position in his lab at Scripps next semester. I was so flabbergasted and elated to hear the offer. I need all of the experience I can get so I eagerly agreed.

Ironically, A professor from my humanities class is allowing me to get experience in my intended career. Sometimes the best things are found in the strangest places. If you let your motives be known and seek advice and help from professionals with many connections, only good things are bound to happen. The kind teacher that helps with papers can also help you in life by offering you experience in many other fields. So, keep your options open! Seek help from many people and one of them will undoubtedly help along the way! If you are like me, you will not be disappointed–in fact you will be happy dancing.