Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

I have been in grad school for two weeks. Already, my original plans to jump into research – and sleep 9 hours a day – are currently thwarted by a flurry of newly discovered fellowship applications. Also, my nemesis has returned: physics class! I now have the pleasure of competing against graduate students who majored in applied physics, instead of the previous motley crew of undergraduate science and engineering majors. Serves me right for going into matsci instead of inorganic chemistry. This sounds like grounds for a discussion on the merits of GPAs in graduate school…

Application writing is tedious. I don’t know a soul who actually enjoys composing personal statements, previous research reports, or proposals. I have also spent many hours typing personal information into online forms via the cantankerous internet connection in my office (at least it saves paper). Personally, my problem is not so much the time it takes to type up everything. The issue is in composing something scientifically meaningful, which communicates my ideas in a clear, clever fashion that does not put people to sleep. (Being a slow writer also causes troubles. Or maybe it's just my brain that might be slowing; my mother recently commented on yet another lapse in my short-term memory, stating that age 21 is a bit early for Alzheimer’s to be setting in. I’d like to think that we all have these sorts of problems, though.)

In terms of producing worthwhile content, I specifically have the personal statement in mind. It’s like a repetition of college applications, where all of my accomplishments, background, and any aspect that I write about has inevitably been done, experienced, and described by myriads of other applicants. How does one presume to be unique, and then convey it in one thousand words? To what extent can a short essay convey the subtleties of a personality and the drive to excel, avoiding horrid clichés and hackneyed concepts? For those who wade through the sea of incoming material: how do you distinguish between creativity and reiteration? The same can be said about research proposals, too. They need to know that I know what I’m talking about. But how?

All I can do is my best, and hope it is sufficient to propel my application into the “accept” list. Good luck to everyone else in the process of begging for funding. Unless you are one of my competitors. (Just kidding! Or am I…?)

Posted by Neil Withers at 08:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

The day has arrived: fall quarter has begun and I am officially a grad student! I have long since left the comfort of teeming undergraduate dormitories and dining halls, in lieu of bare graduate apartments and my own kitchen. (Next step: avoiding frozen food and making time to cook up edible chemistry.) In the shiny new engineering building, there is a desk waiting for me alongside the other first years. Soon I shall take my research from the realm of theories & literature into that of wet-synthesis & laboratories! With my departmental transition from chemistry to Materials Science and Engineering (MSE), I am more of a “materials girl” than before.

My academic world will primarily consist of three categories: (1) graduate courses, (2) undergrad classes to TA, and — of course — (3) the everpresent job of scientific research.

1. My financial aid contract requires a full-time classload per 10-week quarter. So, I am enrolled in the obligatory [difficult] introductory MSE course, another on proposal writing, and slew of seminars. Nothing particularly new and exciting just yet.

2. To some, lecturing, presentations, grading, and all the works of teaching are trivial. To me, they are all important. With the undergraduate viewpoint still fresh (in which graduate students are expected to know everything and be available 24/7 to answer questions), I aspire to be one of those wonderfully enlightening, inspiring Teaching Assistants. Past experiences with terrible TAs make me wonder…

Deep down, there exists a nagging phobia that my chemistry-tuned background will be insufficient to support the inquiries of engineering students. The MSE class I will teach this term is a one of many core engineering requirements; statistics — and personal confessions — say that most of my students will be more concerned with lesser branches in the school of engineering. (Civil engineering? Who needs that?) How do quiet, calm, low-key individuals convey a passion for chemistry and materials science to students who don’t want to be there? (And contrary to what online ramblings may imply, in person I am quite verbally reserved.)

Any doubts aside, I am excited to wield power over undergrad— I mean, to teach. With my limited teaching/tutoring experience as aid, I can help cultivate minds and fend off requests for deadline extensions. We are the future!

3. Let’s just cross our fingers and hope for miracles. Or at least a stack of papers for Nature to publish. ;)

On a side note, it cannot be avoided that being a minority ensures that I stand out — even literally, as the department seems largely populated by short Asian males*. It’s not a bad thing, but I do wonder what judgments, expectations, and presuppositions await those with double X chromosomes.

*Let the record show that I am 1.68 m [= 5 ft 6 inches for those who like Imperial units and dislike mental arithmetic. NW], Vietnamese, and find it entirely appropriate to point out the common lack of great stature among my fellow Asians.

A flood of questions is before me: “what happened?”, “what now?”, “what am I doing?!”, “what if…”. Hopefully the journey will be more enjoyable than tedious (it’s already established that the road will be painful). For now, however, I must return to begging for fund— I mean, writing scholarship essays and proposals.

TBC

P.S.: My summer was spent doing little chemistry and a lot of art: throwing in a ceramics studio 8 hours a day, using an entire wall to paint a mural in my bedroom, and visiting museums. Should I feel guilty?

Posted by Neil Withers at 06:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

Previously, summer class and the flurry of conference posts have been an excuse for my lack of posting. But, like Neil, I need to get back to it. So much has happened in my academic world since my last post! Does a personal Twitter feed with periodic chemistry references count as updates?

In May, we were drowning in midterms and the doom of upcoming finals. Merely weeks later, I discovered that my last chemistry exam was over and I was running off to multiple commencements, amidst moving out of a surprisingly stuffed little dorm room. Somewhere between the madness and sentence fragments, it suddenly hit me that I had GRADUATED.

Where did the last four years go? My memories are of sweat, blood, and tears – plus a few friends for eternity and a few classes that I truly enjoyed. (Admittedly, it could be argued that I liked any class that was relatively easy – whether matsci, English, or chem. This raises the issue of class content versus classmates and professors, but that topic is best left to a future post.) Of my most notable favorites were solid state and organic chemistry, both lecture and lab courses – despite the latter being slightly ruinous to my GPA. But hey, we have to start learning lab skill somewhere! Plus, it was fun to conjecture on how the professor really tested all the lidocaine we synthesized… And tetraphenylcyclopentadienone was such an impressive sounding name and such a pretty, shiny purple…

Not to marginalize all the toil, but do I look back and wonder what sort of lasting material those classes really taught. (It likely doesn’t count that I’ve been able to fit the allotropes of carbon into “regular” conversation.) My transition from high school to university was very profound; the difficulties of my first term eclipsed all previous academic experiences. Now having jumped those hurdles and refined my abilities, as with high school, my college education seems to lose value. Is undergrad just like [American] high school, where you’re learning to learn? How much of the foundation do we actually retain, forget, cram in for prelims, and then forget again?

It already seems far away, even though graduation is not even two months past.

Posted by Neil Withers at 09:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

In discussions with various professors, I’ve noticed that researchers seek out an interesting range of qualities for their minions – aka: grad students. One absolutely required creativity and out-of-the-box thinking. The next expected independence and strategizing, while insisting that he himself was not the greatest of researchers (he’s amazing and brilliant).

Another said that inherent intelligence and academic background were irrelevant – he just wanted his students to work hard. (This was not too concerning. That is, until I was told that the HR lady received complaints from a different prof who was displeased that his students didn’t come in every weekend… Uhh…) My own advisor never asked for my experience or qualifications, being seemingly content with the fact that I was excited to be in the lab and willing to try anything.

So then, what other characteristics are required? Which are the most important, and to what branches of study?

Posted by Neil Withers at 05:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

It occurred to me that all this time I’ve had a mistaken notion/approach about my undergraduate education… First year was newly discovered distress in the form of higher standards, 10+ page papers, and relatively detailed lab experiments that didn’t go as well as planned. (98% yield on the first time doing a distillation? Why doesn’t my unknown ether smell like roses?! Hah!) I swore that after surviving such troubles from o-chem, nothing else would be difficult – even if I loved the subject.

The next fall, I realized that organic actually isn’t that difficult – physics was infinitely worse for me. Also, to my chagrin, bombing one final could mean getting one crappy grade that permanently tanked a good GPA. I looked forward to the day I returned to the realm of ~3.8.

During third year, after changing my major, I was introduced to the world of materials engineering, research, and more upper division classes. I wondered how half of my undergrad education was already over and why school was still so traumatic at times. If only I could just get another A and earn Latin Honors, all my troubles would dissipate… Now, with over two-thirds of my final year finished, I’ve almost convinced myself to believe that grades aren’t THAT important. It’s all about experience and adaptation!

The “moral” is, I’ve come to recognize, that there will be hardship at every stage of education – and life. Sometimes it’s unbelievably mind-blowing, depression-causing, head-banging-on-desk, extreme hardship. The difficulties just come in different forms, and once you get used to something, situations change. So it’s not about looking forward to when something unpleasant is over, but figuring out how to make it bearable. Enjoyable, even.

Perhaps I’m reiterating obvious truths, but it should be about the journey. I shouldn’t have the mindset of only looking forward to when my GPA goes back up or when graduation rolls around. You have to stop and smell the roses, right? Just make sure that the whiffing doesn’t make you pass out…

Posted by Neil Withers at 08:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

I am trying something new this quarter – skipping class! But, not skipping class because I want to sleep in; even if I did do something so atrocious, it hardly would be beneficial to advertise on this blog. ;)

Instead, I am leaving the classroom to attend a conference for the first time! A friend has secured a [tiny] bit of funding to aid any undergrads attending the MRS spring meeting. Speaking of which, is it really necessary to charge students $160 to merely get through the door? It probably explains why only four of us are going (from the undergraduate Materials Science & Engineering department). Grad students at least tend to get funded by their advisors…

Given our very limited budgets, I’m not sure what the available scope of activities will be. However, I am nonetheless excited – especially after hearing of all the wondrous things from ACS! Now if only Nature Chemistry were around so I could nab an awesome shirt.

What types of happenings do you expect and seek out from conferences?

[Editor's note: the editorial in issue 2 of Nature Chemistry will be about scientific conferences...]

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 05:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

So… it has sadly been ages since I wrote a post for TSC. Finals for winter quarter are rapidly approaching, and unlike Stu, I don’t have the legitimate reason of starting up Nature Chemistry. It’s just been long hours in class/lab and late nights spent writing lab reports or essays – nevermind battling senioritis. (The latter is especially difficult these days as my peers on the semester system are preparing for graduation, while the rest of us will be in school through June).

At the beginning of my undergraduate studies, the difference in academic standards between high school and university came as an unexpected shock. It felt as though that nothing could upstage the difficulties of earning all As instead of A-minuses. Now, those gruelling undergrad o-chem labs seem trivial and writing a 10-page paper in any subject is more of an extended frustration than a hair-ripping horror (although theses still scare me). With whatever wisdom my 3.5 undergraduate years have imparted, I have: 1) discovered that constantly working hard is a given, 2) come to terms with “bad” grades, and 3) learned the importance of higher education in the sciences.

This raises a subject that has lately piqued my curiosity: It comes without saying that a majority of chemists need graduate degrees, but how important is it to have them from a top university, renowned advisor, or an especially demanding program? It’s been said that the undergraduate institution attended is of relatively little consequence, but will the name of my graduate school make a real impact on my future prospects?

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 08:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

Finals are, at last, over and winter break has begun! ‘Tis the season for living at home, sleeping in, catching up on blogging, and checking grades online obsessively! (More precisely, I am procrastinating on studying for the GRE. Ugh. The vocabulary words I’m familiar with nowadays are on par with trimethylxanthine, eigenfunction, and nanorod, not termagant, eleemosynary, and nadir).

As far as grading goes, some form of curving seems standard among non-humanities classes. My science professors tend to aim for “nice” exam averages of 60-80, then curve results so that the wretched students scoring 50% get C's instead of F's. The brilliant engineering profs think everything is completely straightforward and write “easy” exams. Hah!

From a student’s perspective, I generally don’t have problems with curving. It’s nice to not worry about getting +90% on everything and risk having a few arithmetical errors or forgotten arrows kill perceived performance. However, if someone achieves those high scores and stays well above average, an A still isn’t guaranteed. And, that really sucks. It seems to boil down to two choices: battling tests & grading rubrics to score some set percentage, or battling classmates to be at the top of the pack. At the end of the day, it’s just a matter of a little luck and how well you fight (and get back up when beaten down) – regardless of the opponent.

Everyone says to not worry about GPAs, but it can’t be completely written off – especially since some schools give out A’s more easily than others. Experience and recommendations aside, how much do grad schools and companies really factor in what university an applicant comes from? At career fairs, recruiters always, always begin by looking for the GPA on my resume. It does make sense, since a 5-10 minute conversation can’t really tell them how qualified or knowledgeable I might be. But, what if I had a B in a class because my peers were a little bit better that time around, and I could’ve taken the same class the next term and gotten an A? I don’t think the 4.0 from community college will be of much help...

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

Fourth year as an undergrad reminds me of being a high-school senior, only more complicated with the wider range of post-graduation options. Still, the ultimate goal generally remains the same: to secure a source of income while pursuing personal interests. (This poses an interesting question regarding why people even go to college – to get a better job, for the pure joy of learning, because it’s expected, to avoid the real world? Aside from the last part, I fell in the category of “all of the above”).

In the high school days, seniors were expected to spend their time applying to colleges, taking standardized tests (ugh), battling senioritis, and trying not stress out over academics and the future. Now, it seems that continuing education past a Bachelor’s is less expected outside of scientific circles – even to the point of being looked down on by uninformed individuals. “You’re graduating already?! Are you going to work or do grad school?” is posed almost as an afterthought. Apparently, old, moldy college students aren’t interesting to the general public. They’re interested in what school I attend (meaning the accompanying sports teams), and perhaps my major. Upon hearing, “chemistry and materials science” I am often written off as just another nerd or pre-med. Nevermind the organic concentration!

The hardships of graduate school and research go tragically unnoticed by the masses. However, what really matters is that we exist, we do good work, we make a difference, and we are happy. Or so I tell myself...

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

It’s late October, I’m running on ~7 hours sleep for the last 48 hours, and deadlines are fast approaching (not to mention my quantum midterm in 2.5 hours)! Must... sleep... study...

My original intent – up until yesterday when my parents offered a “bribe” for staying in school – was to get a job after I graduate next June. After getting that “break” for a year or two, I could head off to grad school. I’ve already started sending off resumes to big companies... Considering the new aforementioned development, however, I’m considering staying at my university for a Master’s in materials science & engineering – possibly ceramics, in which case I have to study for the GRE and write essays now!

So the debate in question is: break to work or grad school ASAP? I’ve heard a few arguments, but not much from scientists. Go!

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 06:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

The past summer was a highlight for me, not only because of the research I did during my internship at a Large Company, but also due to the people I met there. In addition to co-workers being friendly and helpful (and the building wonderfully air conditioned in the 100+ degree weather), my fellow interns were exceptionally bright, scientifically minded (not just intelligent), sociable and interesting. Rarely have I lived or worked with students who could just as easily and happily talk about synthesis and characterization as they could sports and movies.

While attempting to strain pasta without a sieve, one [male] intern bemoaned the difficulty of the task and called for a desiccator. Any nerdy shirt that I wore would be appreciated, as opposed to causing strange looks to be cast in my direction. We could tie-break a card game by whoever most quickly stated the atomic mass of element ‘X’… And despite all that, we could be considered normal by the general public – we were musicians, collegiate athletes, cooks, a frat boy, and presidents of clubs unrelated to science. We attended midnight showings of movies, showed up for work half-asleep and visited tourist traps on the weekends. One of the guys drove well over 2000 miles in a truck, just to bring his plasma TV and Xbox.

I like to think that we dispelled the stereotype of chemists being smelly, wild-haired nuts in stained lab coats, or under-fed nerds living in library study lounges. Brilliance is hiding under the guise of normalcy, between talking about the awesomeness of molecular imaging and of playing Halo.

It’s now nearing the beginning of my fall quarter. I am once again one of the 1000+ students living in my particular residence hall. My roommate is a second-year music major, and we get along splendidly; lately we’ve united in griping about how obnoxiously loud the freshmen have been late at night – do they really need to “party” in the dorm room next door? Soon I shall be balancing senior year coursework and deciding whether to apply to grad schools asap (and what to study), or to take a year off and work...

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 04:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

Similar to a theme from last summer’s post while I was on vacation, it seems that chemistry never escapes notice. (No surprise there, considering that the world revolves around chemistry – or so we’d like to think. That point is argued here).

The view during take-off on a Boeing 737 rather strikes me as the opposite of studying chemistry. At least, certain aspects of it. Research in the field of chemistry tends to delve increasingly into the small scale, from materials, nanoparticles, and molecules down to atoms, electrons, etc. Chemists will keep zooming in until we find all the answers (and it’s not 42). On the other hand, watching the ground fade to 10,000 feet allows passengers to see massive structures and cities disappear – objects in macroscale are zoomed out until the ground resembles a 3D topographical map; I’m currently watching Silicon Valley disappear into a green and brown mountain range. Technology and science never cease to amaze me, no matter how large or small they go…

It seems that the mindset of any avid scientist boils down to a similar theme – a curiosity and amazement with little details and undiscovered subtleties of the world we exist in. Nowhere outside of the lab would I hear my fluorescent nanorod solution be described as “pretty” (people at home tend to just see some bright yellow liquid in a glass container). In few situations are TEMs, AFMs, and sometimes even NMRs described as “gorgeous” or “awesome”. It has been a wonderful summer for me as I’ve basked in the world of research and worked with great minds. In several weeks I shall return to school, bringing with me unique experience to apply towards continued labwork. Senior year should be interesting.

P.S.: Interestingly – in relation to Retread’s recent post, one of my fellow interns this summer attended the same intensive summer music academy that I did – one that does not accept students who are “soulless automatons producing mechanically perfect music”. It appears that being a decent chemist is compatible with being a decent pianist...

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 06:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

It seems that the editors have lately been posting on the go, so I figured I could get away with adding my own little adventures to the mix... I am on the return trip from a weekend visit to L.A. – it’s now back up north to finish the last month of my internship. At the moment, my flight is under “mechanical delay” for technicians to “take a look at” an emergency latch. We are projected to depart under an hour late, so it’s nothing like Stu’s mishaps on route to ACS conferences. It must be said, however, that the cause of the delay is of some concern. I can just imagine the emergency door detaching mid-flight, with me in the adjacent seat...

In terms of more chemistry-related delays, labwork has been slowing lately due to finishing a milestone in my project and working on a poster for our facility-wide presentation day. Speaking of which, this is the first scientific poster I have created. Any tips? Succinctness, accuracy, organization, and overall aesthetic pleasure are my current goals – along with providing tangible evidence that chemistry outshines the other research departments. We will definitely have prettier pictures than, say, the CS people. (Synthesizing fluorescent nanoparticles beats writing computer programs. Hah!)

In any case, there’s still pressure to finish what my boss has planned for the summer, even though I may be a lowly intern who is NSF funded – and hence of little financial interest to the international corporation. Deadlines and such in ‘real life’ research are worse, from what I’ve gathered, but I will finish my work regardless (assuming that the theoretical chemistry works itself out in time). No need to protest about my situation – as long as they don’t stop bringing mini-bagels to our weekly group meetings.

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 06:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

Summer break highlights the differences between the working world and academia — notably at the undergraduate level and below. While the 'lower' students generally have three months of relaxation, professors, grad students, and others in the workforce must keep working (or catching up on it). In previous years, I imagined that being a perpetual student or teacher would leave summers utterly free for my own time. Hah. Hah.

During the past school year, my experience researching in a materials lab revealed the world of graduate studies and taught that school never ends – especially for the motivated grad student. Now, interning with an industrial research lab is conditioning me to the clockwork of getting up at the crack of dawn, working a 9–5 (or longer), then having to eat, socialize with neighbors, and run errands early in the evening before going to bed. Needless to say, it is quite a difference from the undergrad life of taking classes — ideally at 10am, spending just some time in lab, and staying up to the crack of dawn studying...

I have yet to determine which I prefer. The corporate lifestyle is somewhat automated, but not necessarily with the harassed, stressful, all-night pace of exams, research, and the general insanity associated with academia. In the end, as long as there is something to interest and drive the intellectual mind, it should all work out – but that could be the hardest part. I’ve got a few more years still to decide ‘what I want to be when I grow up’.

Posted by Neil Withers at 06:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

It feels as though many months have passed since I last posted – every closing term of the school year loves to drag on forever. My third year as an undergraduate is over!

After a mad scramble with finals, moving out of a dorm room, repacking for an apartment, and driving many miles, I am now settled in Silicon Valley for the summer. Housing is provided through a joint program between a local university and research center, and I have rather gleefully been absorbing the new surroundings. The next few months will be spent getting up at 6:30 am, commuting to work, basking in chemicals, researching nanorods, attending meetings/seminars, and avoiding the status of ‘sleepy, zombified intern’...

More to come.

Posted by Neil Withers at 06:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

It is my theory that organizations should raffle off spectrometers instead of, say, iPods. For example, various boxes of kimwipes have been advertising trips to Jamaica and home theater systems. While anyone could use a vacation, maybe we’d be stuck in lab less often if not for the long line to obtain an NMR spectrum…

Speaking of which, o-chem lab is going splendidly – apart from a handful of volatile lachrymators and an overcrowded class. I’d forgotten how semi-exhilarating it is to soak for half a day in the fumes of acetone and whatever concoctions are being nuked by the students. As suggested by Sarah, I got my hands on “Organic Chemistry as a Second Language”, but fortunately haven’t needed to use the books for more than a reference. I mostly just have to memorize peaks and trends for the exams. psi*psi was quite right: "Studying doesn't help for labs – you have to be able to think on your feet, since the unexpected can and does happen."

So here’s a question. In a week’s experiment, only one student obtains the desired powder (instead of an oil), but the NMRs come out messy after the higher-ups fail to mention that the product is hygroscopic and shouldn’t be dried in air. Who did a better job?

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 08:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

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Now that the small flurry of blogging on the ACS meeting has subsided, posting resumes!

Applications for schools/scholarships inevitably want you to discuss how participation in their programs would be beneficial to you, what makes you qualified, etc, etc... Sometimes I really wish they would be more specific and not ask vague, broad questions. For me, the answer can easily be summarized by one word: experience. Unfortunately, no matter how universally true the response, its length is by no means sufficient to create a proper statement.

It seems that all essays in the genre boil down to an inherently dry rehashing of past experience, present thoughts, and future plans. There seem to be few techniques to make the reading of personal statements interesting or even enjoyable*, aside from mentioning specific science, notably work you have done, to attract – hopefully – the interest of admissions staff. Another method would be to take a lighter tone and throw in some humor – however, that may well be unfavorable, considering that scientists should maintain a professional tone. (Or is that just my inexperience speaking?).

Anyone can read a [good] resume** and decipher a decent amount of a person’s abilities – why restate details in an essay and bore the readers? To those who are writing and have written a multitude of applications, what non-academic features did you include to single yourself out? To those reading the essays, what has made applicants stand out past their intellectual accomplishments?

P.S. - When a program claims to be “highly competitive”, what type of quantitative data can generally be assumed to support that statement?

*This is without considering college/undergraduate application essays, which run the gamut from horrendously employed grammar and monotone statements of extracurriculars, to whimsical stories of adventures and unique lessons learned. (Many moons ago, one of mine began with one time I caught an especially large and disgusting cockroach in a library’s restroom. But, for all I know, that one could’ve been the weakest of my essays).

**Therein lies the issue of how to write a succinct, informative resume...

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 07:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

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I’ll cut to the chase on this one. What are graduate schools and employers looking for the most? Where do they draw the line between the two general characteristics that lead to success – natural aptitude versus natural inclination to work hard? Some graduate programs guarantee admission for students with sufficiently high GPAs. However, a few letters on a transcript can only indicate a student’s true ability to a certain degree. It is an unfortunate truth that a mere handful of blips on the academic radar can tank a history of otherwise good marks.

It has been said that great concern over grades is useless, but it is impossible to never worry. Not all scholars are blessed with the genius chromosome that allows for effortless, perfect academic records. So where does that leave the rest of us poor mortals? Is it just luck in finding someone who wants us? As always, I wonder.

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

Freshman year passed in [what is now] a blur. I mostly recall slaving over o-chem labs, studying relentlessly, and pondering a major in chemistry. Adaptation to university life was immediate and painless, apart from coping with the much heightened level of academics.

For instance, semi-brainless writing was an A+ in community college (during high school), while just scratching an A- at the university level. It went from simply using proper grammar and sounding vaguely intelligent, to really having to analyze and think things through to create new ideas. Science and math also seem to follow that route – going from primarily plug & chug on multiple-hour exams to 50 minutes of where-the-hell-did-this-come-from?!

So, returning from the tangent of academic discrepancies, I struggled during the first year of university, but never despaired for longer than a day. If anything, it was always o-chem causing stress...

Speaking of which, upper-division lab begins next quarter and I haven’t dealt with o-chem for over two years – it’s all been inorganic and physical since freshman year. My labwork has barely involved chemicals or spectroscopy, and even less of hot plates, TLC, separatory funnels*, etc... In essence, my doom is waiting around the corner and I’ll be re-studying like a madwoman. What do you consider the main tenets of o-chem book-knowledge and laboratory technique? What should I focus on?

*Granted, after hearing a good number of professors recount horror stories on the misuse of sep funnels, it’s hard to forget, say, shaking one without holding it closed. Still, it sounds terribly amusing to see someone else’s reaction propel a stopper across the room…

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 09:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

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I don't know how it is for graduate students, but cheat sheets to me are an ironically great way to study. Over the course of several days, I review every inch of my notes and textbooks, then cover a sheet of paper with two or three columns of formulas and shorthand notes - all written with 0.5 mm lead in miniscule, typewriter-esque handwriting. However, after all that work and cramping of wrist, I essentially remember everything and hardly need the compacted notes.

Inevitably, 97% percent of whatever is on the page never shows up on the exam, and the 3% of material omitted or missed does. (In case it weren't apparent by the cynical undertone, I've lately had back-to-back midterms and have more in the next two weeks. Nothing gets the blood rushing like finishing an exam at 12:57 pm, then sprinting across campus to the next at 1 pm...) On the bright side, nothing beats really knowing that you have a strong grasp of material, even without the chance to prove it on exams. A few years down the road, an undergraduate GPA won’t be worth as much as knowledge. Ideally.

As for previous topics, I've decided to go for an internship, given the chance. From what I’ve gathered, extra time on a degree wouldn’t make a great difference, while experience would. Also, a few years in the workforce should take care of the extra debt relatively painlessly... It’d be a nice change from the previous summers of all classes and work, as well as an exciting opportunity to learn – especially because lately my assigned “labwork” has consisted of researching and editing proposals. (As much as more funding for our lab would be nice, I’d prefer to save that aspect of the “real world” for later.) So, I'm crossing my fingers and hoping someone wants me

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 04:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

You'd think that being on winter break for three weeks would provide not only holiday spirit, but also an ideal medium for productivity — catching up on blog entries, preemptively studying for physics, etc, etc. However, it seems that the mind automatically (and far too easily) switches from textbook chemistry to everyday chemistry. Notably, I spent countless hours creating “reactions” in the kitchen, as opposed to researching for my aerogel project or finding out how to use our dusty ellipsometer that everyone in lab seems to have forgotten how to operate...

In any case, I did manage — in the last three days of break — to start and finish the majority of my summer applications for undergraduate research. This suggests a recently evolved thought: Is it better to spend summers taking classes, thereby lowering the risk of becoming a fifth-year undergrad, or to continue with research, in order to gain experience and resume boosters? Concentrating solely on research, without the pressure of the regular school year, provides a superior medium for learning and productivity in lab. Nevertheless, graduating on time is ideal, and paying extra undergraduate tuition is hardly in my budget. It all depends on how those pesky once-a-year, required courses are scheduled, but who knows that far enough in advance?

On a similar note, is it more beneficial to spend extra time as an undergrad taking non-required but theoretically practical courses, or to finish the bare minimum quickly and learn what is missing as it comes in grad school and industry? What to do, what to do…

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 04:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

The fall quarter of my junior year is, at last, over! The last exam has been taken, and the last paper has been written last-minute and emailed in before the deadline. So far, so good, at least in terms of the final scores currently available online... Apart from the generic fact that they are exams, one major aspect of finals is particularly distressing: they generally count from 20 to 60% of overall class grades. We can slave away and perform magnificently for over ten weeks, then have everything come tumbling down in one fell swoop – all due to poor performance on a final. Granted, if we’ve done well before, we should be able to continue the trend into the last stretch of the term, but life’s anomalies can come around anytime.

However, what choice is there? Deep, individual conversations and telepathy aside, there is no fair way for professors to probe the minds of their students, and from there assign those fatal, permanent marks known as grades. So, everything comes full circle. It’s not always fair to those involved, but the system has been set and would be different – ideally – were there a better method.

The ultimate goal should be for us to learn the material presented and to prepare for the world outside our relatively safe and secure classrooms, regardless of grades. Perhaps more focus should be put on ensuring that professors have both the ability and drive to teach properly, before being let loose in the classroom. Selecting students worthy of good institutions is a whole other issue...

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 04:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

...is a bad destination (but I'm headed there anyway)!

What is it about human nature that makes a majority of us do whatever we're not supposed to be doing, at a given point in time? For example, it's past 2 am and I'm supposed to be studying for finals - not writing this blog entry, checking email, pondering my class schedule for next quarter, cleaning the room, and writing Christmas cards, while only glancing at the lecture notes stacked on my desk.

Granted, I would have to do errands eventually, and many of us work best under pressure. However, there comes a time to choose which path is more reasonable. I have yet to decide. Or, it's just the devil on my shoulder telling me that I can study tomorrow, and to go to bed instead...

(posted on behalf of Materials Girl)

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Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

I never had chemistry, biology, or magic sets growing up, but still ended up aspiring to work in the field of science. Before the specific concept of "maxillofacial surgeon" was coherent to a 7-year-old, my calling in life was to perform surgery of some sort. Dissecting a myriad of formaldehyde-infused specimens in high school reinforced this idea (horrible fun, literally).

Then, the realities of med school – or horrors, if you will – became apparent, along with the recognition that mild squeamishness and fear of causing damage are characteristics that hardly behoove a surgeon. I realized that extreme mental strain is only justified for a passion (or a necessity, such as certain GE classes) – a category that medical school did not fall into, despite a potentially lucrative career on the far-off horizon.

So, I suppose this suggests the question that many of us have mused over: Why am I a chemist (or a materials engineer)? It’s generally safe to say that the motivation is not money, hours of writing proposals, the “thrill” of sitting around lab waiting for a reaction to complete, needing to redo that 57-step process, or whatever else plagues the followers of chemistry. A genuine thrill does exist, however. Why else would we subject ourselves to something that the general public may react poorly to? (“I abhorred high school chemistry and never took it again!”, “Is ‘mat sci’ mathematical sciences?”, “I could never work in a smelly lab all day!”, etc...)

Currently, as a lowly chemist in the making, my thrills primarily lie with the daily influx/deluge of information. In the future, I hope to turn that knowledge into innovative discoveries, or to pass it along to other generations to do the same. More recently, since becoming more aware of the publishing world, I’ve also pondered whether being an editor for a scientific journal would be a satisfying career choice. There are many options, but I’m not sure yet where my current path will take me.

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 05:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

These are 'stolen' from a good friend of mine who proves that chemists can be witty, too! My Facebook page - yes, that infernal, horrendous, time-wasting network - is well-stocked with his quotes. The second limerick is probably the best I've ever read.

--

There once was a fellow from Stowles
Who bred cockroaches, rabbits, and voles
Asked how he could keep track
Of this prolific pack
He replied "I just count them in moles."

--

A Chemist, gone mad with distraction
Hurled into the sea his reaction.
To atone for this loss
He was made by his boss
To recover it via extraction.

--

Can anyone out there do any better?

[Editor's note: first it was haiku... now limericks, what next?!!]

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

***This is the final part of a three-post series

Being a chemist is not the only thing that evokes an "Oh!” or “Wow..." response – so does being an upperclassman still living in the dorms. We are swamped with freshmen and sophomores, and it has become an internal game for me to single out the new students. They tend to be more talkative and wide-eyed, not to mention garbed in trendy, clique-d, or "fashionable" attire from high school. Perhaps it is imagination, but they also seem to have an aura of being lost.

Still, it is not my place to consider myself much better those younger students, even if I never had problems with drastic change and separation anxiety. In a fleeting two years, my graduating class has progressed from being in their place, and in another two some of us will be there again. Like the current undergrad "noobs"*, I will have to find my place in a new, graduate circle and attempt to find out what to do with myself in the academic world. Ultimately, we all leave the stressful, but relatively safe, bubble of academia and plunge headlong into a new career.

How did you start, through what have you progressed, and to where are you heading?

*Internet lingo for a newcomer. From "newbie" to "newb" to "noob". :)

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 05:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl

***This is part two of a three-post series

The first day of classes also provides a form of benevolent entertainment. Specifically, spotting students anxiously studying maps and shiny new class planners, as they scurry across the campus' many acres. (After one quarter, I gave up on remembering to use a planner; instead, scheduling is primarily accomplished via phone and numerous Post-It notes. I've also discovered that getting lost on foot is easier than it seems).

Each term of each year in university has had its own challenges, as well as its unappreciated perks – mostly in the form of good professors. Unappreciated is the word, because undergrads typically just recognize that "those guys" are good teachers – or complain about the difficulty of their classes and the resulting loss of sleep. Rarely do they know that some of these individuals not only teach, but also run extensive research groups, publish groundbreaking scientific papers, and write for journals such as Science and Nature.

We take the knowledge and brilliance of many people for granted. (Those eccentric, strange-smelling professors roaming campus with disheveled clothing and starry expressions may not be quite as batty as they seem...). How often do others misjudge us? All that matters is that we strive to meet and rise above any high expectations that are set for our lowly, human selves...

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 05:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl:

***This is the first part of a three-post series

Less than two weeks ago, organized chaos descended on campus as 9,000 undergraduates relocated from their homes to the dormitories. Those of us who volunteered as Move-In Assistants (MIAs) came early in exchange for “slave labor”, providing a smooth transition for the incoming hordes by decorating, hauling, directing, etc.

An MIA's duties include giving shuttle tours for incoming families. This includes an inquiry of the incoming students' majors, which inevitably results in a nervous, energetic chorus of "Undeclared!", "Psychology!" or "English!" The mood is occasionally lifted by a dour proclamation of the intent to enter engineering, or even pre-med. Alas, it seems that the breed of chemists here is dying out in the wake of humanities, engineering, and – horrors – biochemistry!*

Stating my own major tends to draw blank expressions – we may as well be aliens from the planet Tetraphenylcyclopentadienone.** Freshmen, especially, seem to hold in awe anyone who studies any branch of chemistry, and others haven't a clue what materials science engineering even is.

Having not attended school in the traditional fashion, I am at a loss to guess why there exists a relatively small number of chemistry applicants arriving from high school. What are they teaching before university? Have the ranks of chemists always seemed few? Hopefully, that is just the case at this one California school, and the land of chemists thrives elsewhere...

*Seriously, they are all wonderful, but the ratio of biochemists and chemists is approximately 3:1 and feels like 100:1 – even less with materials chemists. The all-knowing *cough* Facebook search at my school lists a mere 13 Chem/Mat-Sci majors, two-thirds of which are grad students.

**C₂₉H₂₀O, because that was the first interesting compound I synthesized during freshmen year. (Nothing soothed my nerves more than seeing fine, beautiful, dark purple crystals appear out of an unfathomably dark solution). Plus, the name is just cool. Say "tetraphenylcyclopentadienone" ten times fast.

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 04:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl:

Murphy’s Law, although highly applicable to the realm of chemistry, is demonstrated in all areas of life. Consider the [anticipated] tardiness of this post, attributed to my being away camping...

I had printed a stack of articles to study in relation to an upcoming post, much to the chagrin of my brother who protested his laser printer being in use for half an hour. However, being out in nature generally distracts one from reading about nature – “The Absorption of Water by Gelatin” would more accurately have been “The Absorption of Swamp by [my] Shoes”. That, however, is hardly an example of Murphy’s Law. The real irony was when people packed for the 110 degree Fahrenheit temperature at home, only to be met on the mountain with alternating heat and cold torrential rain. Fortunately, nature, Nature, and flash flood warnings are all exciting in their own way, so it wasn’t all that bad. Also, anything can remind me of chemistry, even something as trivial as pondering the dirt to water ratio in the various slurries of mud and grime covering the campsite. Once back in lab, I am likely to again start seeing things in terms of polarity, precipitates, and solvents...

The rain has begun in earnest again, and my pen is smudging over the notebook I am scribbling in. I shall type this up after getting home… Tell me your chemical stories involving Murphy’s Law, and perhaps how to avoid such occurrences – comments are wonderful.

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 04:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl:

1. Ah, physicists. Ampere! Faraday! Biot and Savant! All undoubtedly brilliant, but to what extent are chemists required to know the laws so named after those individuals? I jokingly asked a physics-inclined friend to take a midterm on my behalf, and was answered with a resounding, “I don’t remember that magnetic crap” (Eloquent, that boy...)

Physics is indisputably my worst subject. Words such as “torque”, “flux”, and “vector field” fill me with dread, while classes in other fields have caused no major crises. Although the concepts in physics are simple enough, I rarely seem to derive solutions without help. (Interestingly, my Science of Engineering Materials course was very physics tuned, but caused few difficulties). I have yet to take physical chemistry, and am deeply alarmed by my inability to conquer physics-based problem-solving – an impediment that has not been rectified with extra tutelage and homework...

To the more experienced, have you had notable problems with physics, or any other prerequisite classes to chemistry? What did you do?

2. People have labeled me insane for taking summer classes, but it is a necessity if I am to graduate in four years. On the other side, what occupies a typical graduate student during the summer? Taking classes? Researching new projects? Procrastinating on writing theses? Sleeping and relaxing? Same old, same old?

3. As far as mathematics goes, I recently finished my last final in that field: differential equations! Great class – nothing beats interesting material taught by an articulate teacher with a sense of humor.

Quoting my professor, while he was demonstrating a problem: “Oooh, I forgot t’s.” After observing multiple blackboards covered with matrices in power series expansion: “Let’s just erase it in 'e to the At' here [near the beginning]. That’s better. It still works!” If only chemistry problems could be so easily rectified! “Oh, there’s a methyl missing in my product and all the previous steps – let’s just change the initial reactants and erase a bond over here...” Or, as my favorite o-chem prof always reiterated during exams, “You may NOT put five bonds on carbon!!”

Another question. How often do differential equations present themselves in higher level chemistry? According to the chemistry catalogue, only quantum mechanics includes DEs as a prerequisite. Hmm...

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 05:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl:

Inspired by Mushy's recent post, as well as classes with presentations that put students to sleep... PowerPoint does not (necessarily) equal lecture!

Well, at least from the perspective of a professor communicating to students. Staring at slides, no matter how well-made, has never allowed material to absorb into my brain as well as the traditional ‘chalk-talk’. Technology allows for the creation of wonderful things, but even the effectiveness of the best, most beautiful slide pales in comparison to a blackboard under the spell of an eloquent, but chalky, professor.

For scientific presentations in general, audiences are not likely expected to explicitly learn the material and to be tested in the horrifyingly near future. Hence, I presume that slides are (typically) superior in those situations - especially if made following Mushy’s guidelines.

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 04:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

[Editor's note: another guest blogger has joined our team...]

-------------

Posted on behalf of Materials Girl:

Writing here makes me feel like a freshman all over again. Only, this time, I’m rather giddy with excitement. (My actual first-year experience involved enjoying the change in scenery, staying cool, and “just chillin” – despite getting lost at 7 am in the maze of dusky hallways that constitute the math building, all on my first day of class). However, I digress - a frequent occurrence in my case. The downfall of an active mind is a proclivity for becoming distracted, notably with what I’m not actually supposed to be doing... At the moment, the word “homework” seems to be flashing in the back of my mind in blinding red font.

So, why am I writing on a chemistry-related blog? The title should explain enough... References to Madonna notwithstanding, “Materials Girl” describes who I am in the academic community: a 3rd-year undergraduate female majoring in chemistry/materials science, with an organic concentration.* Any ramblings here will chronicle my random thoughts in relation to chemistry, “however tenuous”, in my passage through all things chemistry, the education system, and beyond.

Where does the journey begin? More precisely, which parts matter? In high school/community college, I learned to play with Bunsen burners, mix pretty-colored chemical solutions, and overall skate my way through chem with A’s. “Real university” o-chem began the wakeup call (and the descent of my precious GPA). However, I stayed afloat and gradually learned to balance a love/hate relationship with the subject I’d begun studying by default: chemistry! Second year, fall quarter, I unsuspectingly enrolled in an adjunct seminar to my inorganic chemistry course.* From that, I become entranced in “It’s a Materials World”, and discovered that learning about the practical application of materials intrigued me more than other branches of chemistry. On the basis of a particularly good lecture, I impulsively petitioned to shift majors from pure chemistry to chemistry/materials science.

I have yet to regret that choice (notably since I no longer am required to take ANY biochem – some of the most dreaded courses ever taken by those outside the major*)... Granted, I haven’t reached the heaviest classes of my new major yet, but any difficulties in material should be overruled by the joy of learning, right? We shall see how everything fares, especially with the upcoming fall quarter.*

So many thoughts, so little space and time! It’s long past midnight and my summer classes’ homework calls.* Before stopping myself from babbling off again, I would like to thank the editors of the Sceptical Chymist for offering me what my older brother calls “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, especially for a mere undergrad.” (As if he isn’t “merely” an undergraduate at Caltech). It is with greatest anticipation and honor that I make my first post.

*more on that in a later post

Posted by Stuart Cantrill at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)