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By Susan Brown
Spanish Town, Jamaica
Chemistry
My first week of intensive chemistry research began with failed experiments and broken glassware. Professor Rebecca Hoye, my adviser, shrewdly responded to my first lab attempts by saying, “Well, that’s research.”
At the time her statement baffled me, but as the weeks progressed in our organic synthesis research project, I started to understand the depth of her seemingly simple words. Previously, I hadn’t given much thought to the effort behind every arrow drawn in each reaction depicted in our textbook. Through research, I quickly learned how most reactions that seemed quite easy on paper were, in fact, arduous to undertake. I was intrigued by the depth of knowledge behind every step in a series of reactions and the application of the principles learned in class.
Throughout my time in the lab, I compared what I was learning in that setting to what I was learning in track and field. During training, my track coach always emphasizes the importance of the physical repetition of drills. This principle carries over into the lab, as the hands-on approach that research affords is integral to the proper understanding of the concepts relayed in class. During research, I was challenged to think out of the theoretical box of the classroom. It was because of my summer research lab—aided by the values adapted in track and field—that I truly learned chemistry.
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