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Chemistry. Who knew I’d enjoy it?

Tomorrow, is the first Chemistry exam of the semester. I so badly want an “A” in this class. I took this same Chemistry 161B class at LCC back in 1998, but dropped it. I was a terrible student, and had learned I wouldn’t need to get a B.S. in Computer Science, since they had just created a B.A. program for it. The 1998 version of me, never did the homework or studied, and quickly began failing the course. The lectures were great, but without doing the work, there was no way to learn all the material.

Fast-forward to the present, and interestingly enough, I have the same exact professor from 1998. He was pretty young back then, so he’s still someone I consider young today. (He’s only about ten years older than me). He didn’t remember me when I spoke to him on the first day of class, but it had been 15 years, and I did drop the class within the first two months of the semester. When I started registering for courses in December, I saw he was still teaching, and knew he was the best instructor I could get. So far, he hasn’t let me down. He works hard for his students; his lectures are great, and the structure of all the quizzes, homework assignments, labs, and lectures complement each other in such an elegant way, that if you’re doing all the work, you should have all the answers and tools you need to progress to the next step.

We had a quiz on Friday, and apparently much of the class couldn’t do one of the problems that I could. He told me he thought I could get an “A” on this test. I told him, “I’ll be happy with a ‘C,'” to which he replied, “You’ll get a B+.” I just laughed. I didn’t want to aim too high. It’s too much pressure when someone expects good things from me. I have a hard time letting anyone down– especially someone I respect like my sensei’s or instructors.. my parents, etc. So, this added more pressure, but also has been motivating me to want that ‘A’ even more.

Chemistry’s my favorite class. I get to use a lot of logic and problem solving without quite understanding how to do math, so it’s right up my alley! The lab experiments are a lot of fun… I get to use the bunsen burner, and the little pyro in me gets shiny-eyed each time I get to light the flame. My professor also makes the class a lot of fun and is one of the best instructors I’ve ever had. Oh! Even the textbook is pretty good!

But honestly though… I think I’m gonna end up with a B.