Day Twelve: Long but Good

Hello, after what I hope was a wonderful weekend!

I suppose that I could document my day's activities.  However, there isn't much new information to report.  We characterized our Grignard reaction and decided to run it again, keeping me in the lab from 8:50 - 6:30...not the longest day I've spent in a laboratory, but definitely unexpected.

What I'd rather do is reflect on how this day of work affected my attitude toward the future.

There are a lot of cool Interim projects on campus this year: Latin dance, knitting, yoga and rock-climbing.  I was recommended to quite a few of these, and would gladly have participated in any of them.  After spending my last two Interim terms out of the country - first in Chile, then in Italy - it might have made sense to pick a project that was more relaxing, especially considering that I leave for my semester abroad a week after Interim ends.  I knew, though, that this might be my only chance to garner research experience this academic year.  Not only that, if I couldn't travel and explore new cultures, I couldn't see myself anywhere other than in a chemistry laboratory.

I won't lie and say that watching a half-hour reflux is the most enjoyable task.  It's actually somewhat tedious, all things considered.  But I found myself comforted in the knowledge that I could have a reflux running in one hood, a GC sample being scanned in the other lab, and be setting up a new apparatus or washing glassware all at once.  I enjoyed wandering back and forth and comparing my reaction process to my lab mates'.  In comparison to last week's trial, today's experiment proceeded without a hitch, so it was nice to lean back and observe without significant stress.

Another wonderful aspect about the day was affirming my desire to attend graduate school and being able to hash out my ideas with another chemistry major.  As of now, I still don't know where I'm headed, but I am confident that organic chemistry is a viable option for me.  I love the work that I've done this Interim and can't wait to pursue chemical research for the next few years!