Exciting things to come!

I haven't written a blog post in almost a month which is very unlike me, so I thought I would update you on what is happening in my bubble.

I've got some really exciting events coming up, thanks to Fran at Social Sheffield. - We're going to TedX Sheffield where there are going to be some amazing speakers (I've already been researching and googling them), then the week after I'm attending an event here in Sheffield called 'Celebrating Modern Feminism' hosted by Laura Bates, who is the founder of the Everyday Sexism Project. Fingers crossed that because we have press passes, we may get to do a quick interview with her. (It's a feminists dream!).

Also coming up is the Stemettes Hackathon this weekend, which I am volunteering at. I got a press pass for the event, but the Stemettes kindly Dm'ed me on Twitter and asked me if I want to volunteer as well, which is lovely of them. I'm excited to throw myself into the world of code, it'll be fun to learn something new!

Uni wise, revision has begun.

I REPEAT. REVISION HAS BEGUN. 

It's that time already. I feel as if I've been back for five minutes but it's only 2 months until exams and this year I'm determined to ace them. I can do it! :-)

Difficult Decisions

When I first applied for University, I wanted to do a year in Industry as I thought this would help improve my employability prospects and make me stand out. I'm now in my second year and have been preparing to send applications to companies etc. However, no matter hard I try, I can't quite find it in me to send them. It has been overwhelming (and not in a good way).

In the last few days, something has dawned on me. I'm not cut out for this and it's just not for me. This has knocked me sideways as I've always been the kind of student who has 'succeeded' at everything and given things a try even if I didn't really want to because I knew it would be good for me in the long run. Now this has come along and a multitude of factors is making me dread my year in Industry. Recently my mental health hasn't been tip-top so I'm really worried about spending a year alone in a random place with no one to go home to cry to (really). Also, I've realised that I actually kind of don't want to do this. It's an entire year of my life that I will be spending doing research and development or some other activity. A year is a long time and seeing as I'm unsure whether I want to do it right now, what happens if I have to spend an entire year there and I hate it? 

I'm still really confused as to whether I should move 'down' on to the straight MChem course and so I've written some lists of pros and cons:

Pros of staying on the Industry course

• Return to Uni in fourth year with more lab experience
• Be more employable
• A year free of exams 
• It looks good on my CV

Cons of staying on the Industry course

• I don't really want to do it
• My mental health isn't that great at the moment
• The stress of actually applying
• Having to complete uni modules whilst working 9-5 at a company

Looking at these lists it's almost clear to me what decision to make, however being told I can 'move down' to the straight MChem course is something that I don't like to hear. People treat it like I would be taking a step backwards and be less of a successful scientist and I don't know if I can take that idea, as I've always been the kind of student who has been good. I've always been the best, and I don't quite know how to cope with not being the best and not succeeding at something. I can't quite grasp the idea that maybe this course is not for me, because I've never experienced that before and I suppose I'd feel a bit like a failure.


Any advice is appreciated, as I'm sure you'll guess, I'm a little clueless.

Having the Passion to Succeed

I've discovered in the last year that to truly be successful at what you do, exam grades and tests are not the most important thing. Sure, they may have an effect on what courses you can apply for, but there is something way more powerful than exam scores.

At the end of my first year of University, I had to achieve a 60% average in my core modules. I scraped through with 62.5%, not my proudest moment, especially as I didn't actually achieve anything higher than a 2:2 in any of my summer exams. I was actually surprised by my own reaction to this. If it had been a couple of years ago at A-level, I probably would have had a meltdown and cried. Instead, I simply planned how to improve and how to win over companies that I would be applying to the following year. At this moment in time, I don't have the greatest exam record at Uni, my results are nothing special, but I intend to make them so. I have passion.

My passion for my subject is what drives me to do well and succeed. I'm not the kind of student who gets by by doing the bare minimum and although my results aren't the greatest, my love for my subject extends beyond the boundaries of the syllabus. I go out and meet people, network and share my excitement with other people and in a way, I think that makes me more of a scientists than amazing grades do. I love attending events where I get to meet fellow scientists, learn something new and be part of it all. Learning is my favourite thing. I spend hours in the library, not because I have to but because I want to and one day I will be where I want to be.

I may not be the most intelligent person on my course, but I am the most passionate and I will never give up. Follow my blog with Bloglovin

What's it like to be in the Lab?

With so many people starting University soon I thought I would share what a typical day at Uni is like for me. Recently quite a few people have asked me 'What do you actually do, Gina?' So here, I'll talk you through what happens in a first year lab.

With no thanks to popular culture, people often think that as chemists we make a lot of meth. That's only partially true*. Being in the lab is nothing like cooking with Walt, although the technicians are just as fixated on health and safety as him. That's the first thing you learn, before you're even allowed anywhere near the lab is health and safety. *Cue 10 year old Powerpoint with images of horrific scarring*. Being in the lab is dangerous and potentially lethal, which kind of makes it fun, but let's face it, no one wants to be stripped and put under the emergency shower in the corner of the room. 

Preparation for labs can be quite dull with quizzes and questions to answer and research to do, however they're really valuable and I can't imagine going into the lab not knowing what to do, especially because my first year lab teacher was incredibly intimidating when he wanted to be. 

In first year, our lab sessions began at 10.00am and finished at 4.00pm, which seems like a really long time to be stood in the same room, however as soon as you begin a science degree you learn that nothing in science is ever 'quick'. Experiments are time-consuming and sometimes there is nothing to do but wait around for the rotary evaporator to finish, but in general those six hours were spent rushed off our feet. Usually, there is something that can be done. I've discovered that organic labs are possibly the worst simply because there is so much to do in such a short space of time, however the write-ups are fairly easy and vice-versa with physical chemistry labs. 

Setting up glassware and finding missing glassware occupies the first ten minutes of labs, you learn that people never put things back in the right place. In my first year we got a lab manual which had instructions, we simply had to follow these instructions and were expected to think about the chemistry behind the experiment and why we were doing it. Labs always link to something you're learning or will learn so having the practical application of what you're taught in lectures helps you learn and improve your skills. We have PhD students who help us with the experiments and give us advice. A lot of time is spent talking to them in the hope that they pass their wisdom onto you; they're like majestic chemistry unicorns, always there to save the day. 

Undergraduate labs are so different to being at school, you get to play around with loads of cool new equipment and machines, things you'd previously never heard of and are worth thousands of pounds. Learning to use a rotary evaporator is one of those skills that once you've mastered you feel like a proper chemist. IF YOU CAN USE A ROTARY EVAPORATOR, YOU CAN DO ANYTHING. Well, you feel that way. It's just fun to learn how to use equipment you'd previously only seen on TV. Also, there's always a sense of panic in the room when you're using a dangerous chemical for the first time. It's thrilling yet terrifying to know that you are handling something that has the power to kill you and when you use it successfully without killing anyone you feel a great sense of achievement. I was absolutely terrified the first time I used chlorine gas in the lab, but I've learnt that handling potential dangerous gases and compounds is all part of being a competent chemist. Plus I love going home to my flatmates and telling them that I worked with a chemical warfare agent. 

Here's my tips/advice if you're starting a Uni course that involves labs:

1. Always wear safety glasses or you will get shouted at.
2. Don't worry about getting your lab coat dirty, you look more experienced if it's covered in substances. Although you probably should wash it at some point.
3. Make use of PhD students/Older students/Technicians, they know lots of valuable stuff, and sometimes they might tell you the answer ;)
4. Your feet WILL ache after standing up for so long. After a lab go home, put your pyjamas on, make a cup of tea and mentally recover from what's just happened to you. 

Also useful is my Surviving the First year of Uni post I wrote a while ago. 

*I'm joking, obviously.

Useful Books for Undergraduate Chemistry Students

I love books, like really love books. If you're starting University and studying the physical sciences, I've devised a list of books that may be useful in your first year of University. Every Uni has their own list of recommended reading but obviously not all lists will contain the same books, so I've taken some books that my department recommended and some I discovered myself, that have been really helpful/interesting, so I hope this is of some use if you want to get some books together before starting your course. :-)

• This book is awesome. It may say that it's for A level Chemistry, but it's full of exercises and calculations that cover all aspects of Chemistry. It's really good for revising your maths skills and working through problems. It also has example problems at the beginning of each chapter so you know how to calculate the answers yourself and it's just really useful if you want to revise answering calculation questions. You can buy it here: Calculations for A-level Chemistry

• Another Maths book specifically for those undergraduate students studying the chemical sciences without having done A level maths. Again, example problems are given and it covers everything you will cover in your first year maths catch-up lectures. Covers lots of different topics such as differentiation, integration and matrices. You can buy it here: Maths for Chemistry

• Oxford Chemistry Primers are really helpful. They are small books each focussing on a specific topic in Chemistry and will contain some information that may not be given to you in lectures. They're really good for outside reading, are concise and informative and on the whole, easy to understand. I didn't buy before starting my first year and I really wish I had because generally, the University library will only have a few copies of each and they are really good! I've recently invested in a few to begin my second year and plan on taking them on holiday with me to begin some pre-Uni reading. Just search for Oxford Chemistry Primers on Amazon and there are tonnes of them. Some are more expensive than others and I'm unsure why, but I think I got mine for about a penny each. You can't go wrong. 
  

• Who says all educational books have to be text books? If you're studying a subject like chemistry, one topic you will cover in your first year will be the structure of atoms and quantum mechanics. It's difficult to get your head around at first because it's like nothing you've ever encountered before and it always reminds me of the famous quote: "If you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don't understand quantum mechanics." This is where Brian Greene comes in. 'The Fabric of the Cosmos' is a brilliant book. It really helped me understand quantum mechanics, probability and Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. It's also really good if you're interested in concepts such as time and space etc. Amazon have it here: Fabric of the Cosmos 

There are so many useful books out there to aid you in your university course and don't be afraid to try those that aren't textbooks; sometimes they're more helpful as they have a more personal approach and examples you can relate to. :-)

Science and the education system.

For a while now, people have been talking about why there aren't many girls taking the sciences at A-level, especially physics. I sometimes think that I regret not taking physics at A-level as it's a subject I really enjoy now and it would have helped me hugely during my first year of University. However, the more I think about it, I realise that I didn't choose physics because physics A-level looks extremely boring. I'm not saying that physics is boring; I find it fascinating, especially learning about the origin of the planets and why we're here but at the time of choosing my A-levels, I couldn't think of a more mind-numbing course. I think this opinion can be extended to the majority of the sciences at A-level, as to pass the exams you don't even need to understand key concepts, simply memorise them, throw in some key words and BAM, you've got full marks. Well done you.

Chemistry is obviously my favourite subject, but even I didn't find the syllabus or the way of "learning" during A-level chemistry inspiring at all. Instead of focusing on why certain complexes produce gelatinous precipitates and the chemistry behind this, you simply had to remember to write down the word 'gelatinous' in the exam and you would be fine. I knew this wasn't learning. Okay, there's always going to be key concepts and words that you need to remember because they're important, but the idea behind science qualifications like this isn't understanding, it's memorisation and that's not what science is about. How are young people and especially girls supposed to pick these A-levels when there are no real-life applications behind them? Simply saying 'This is this, accept it. Oh and remember to write this word in your answer.' is not representative of the problem-solving and creative thinking that many scientists use on a day to day basis. This is why I didn't choose physics at A-level. I really didn't enjoy it as a subject at school because I couldn't relate to it. The only part of physics I enjoyed at school was learning about nuclear fission and radioactive decay as we were given actual examples of this. I think when it comes to science, the way you learn is by hands-on experience, not sitting and memorising. Thankfully, I had a brilliant teacher who actually studied chemistry at Uni (a rarity these days) and hence was really enthusiastic about the subject and always throwing in anecdotes and random facts related to what we were learning. I don't hesitate to say that if it wasn't for him, my love for chemistry probably wouldn't have developed as much as it did.

The way A-levels are taught kind of sets you up for failure when you reach University. All of a sudden you have vast amounts of information thrown at you and you quickly realise that memorising it all will be impossible and that's where I suddenly realised that I didn't know how to learn. Thankfully, there are a lot more practical sessions at Uni and these are what most helped me learn the concepts we were introduced to in lectures. My scores in my lab sessions have been consistently high throughout both semesters, simply because I enjoy them and I get to 'do stuff' whether it be carrying out a recrystallisation or playing around with chlorine gas (I use the word 'playing' loosely. Please don't play with chlorine gas.). All in all, the way A-levels and even GCSEs are taught makes science seem like very boring fields, when actually they are amazing and I can't imagine doing anything other than a science degree.

Learning something new..

About a month ago it suddenly dawned on me that after my exams had finished I had three months in which to do nothing. I'm not the kind of person who can sit and watch daytime TV for three months so I decided I would use my time wisely and broaden my scientific horizons now all uni work is complete. Coursera is an online company that offers open online courses. The courses are run by their respective universities and institutions from all over the globe offer their courses to be taken online for free. Coursera offers courses covering a variety of subjects and interests including: the sciences, humanities, business, technology, maths and the arts.

Link to Coursera's website

Seeing that all the available courses could be taken for free, I decided to step away from chemistry and sign up for a course titled 'Genes and the Human Condition (From Behaviour to Biotechnology)' offered by the University of Maryland. I was always interested in Biology and really enjoyed it at A-level, especially genetics and the genome etc. so I thought why not? The course is six weeks long and began on the 23rd of June. Each week, there are six web lectures to watch which are complimented by six weekly quizzes. During the 3rd and 6th week, there are online exams to complete. Coursera is a really good learning platform as you have a week to complete the corresponding lectures and quizzes and so this gives you the freedom to learn in your own time and at your own pace. It's also different to university lectures as the lectures are online and so you can go back and watch them over and over again. My course also provides useful links to relative current research, which is fabulous and provides you with a real-life application, so to speak. 

I've recently completed my first week and I loved it. The lectures are short and snappy and a lot of information is thrown at you very quickly, which you get used to as time goes on. So far, we have covered the structure of DNA and the basics of the genome. Also covered, was one of my favourite topics, mutations. Mutations fascinate me as they are completely random and can have the effect of being neutral, advantageous or disadvantageous and many mutations may be expressed in your phenotype. For example the point mutation in the Beta-globin chain of haemoglobin in people with sickle-cell anaemia. A single nucleotide is replaced with another, giving rise to different interactions between nucleotides and hence a different overall structure, which cause the red blood cells to be sickle shaped. In biology, structure affects function and the function of these red blood cells are affected. Of course, this mutation is disadvantageous but fascinating none the less.

One lecture I found particularly interesting was about the use of flies in biotechnology. Flies are often referred to as 'tiny little people' as although their genome contains many less genes than our own, they can be used to study the effects of mutations and to study behaviour. Interestingly, I discovered that when flies are sexually rejected, they drink alcohol and can become light-headed, much like humans. They also display aggression and can experience insomnia, meaning drugs for these conditions in humans may be tested on flies.

I am thoroughly enjoying the course and I can't wait for the upcoming weeks. Yay for science.