A Lot of Chemistry

It seems like most of what we learn this quarter is mostly chemistry. We are finishing up physical chemistry (thank goodness!), studying advanced organic chemistry (which isn't that ADVANCED if you have a good basis in undergraduate ochem) and biochemistry (I love that class!).

I can't wait till Feb 21, when I finish my pchem final exam! For six weeks this quarter, we are focusing on kinetics, rather than thermodynamics (last quarter). I see SOME relevance of kinetics to the pharmacy program, but it's probably not going to help me in my future career as a pharmacist. I think I will take one of my classmate's suggestion and burn my torn pchem book during the bonfire with my fraternity pledge class the weekend after the exam! I know I can save it for my mentee next year, but I think it will be really satisfying to see it go up in flames....I don't know...I'll keep that thought in mind for now and decide later. I still have plenty of time. Oh, I just realized that I have not opened that book even ONCE this quarter, and probably won't do so in the next three weeks. Therefore, I won't be surprised if I didn't get a reasonable grade for the test I just took this Monday and the final I will take in about four weeks . I think I will pass the class though. And that's good enough for me!

We just had a 2-hour ochem test today and it was 15 pages long! Even though I didn't really start studying for it until two days ago, I think I passed it with at least a C. Aiming low can alleviate so much stress and add to the quality of life as a student (that is, if we still have a life outside of school!). In general, the ochem class is mostly review with a little bit of new info and some applications to drugs. I am so glad I just took ochem last year and read the chapter about acid/base chemistry in Klein's "Organic Chemistry As a Second Language" over the winter break. I don't know how I would have survived without that book in the undergraduate ochem class.

Biochemistry is my favorite class this quarter! Our instructor is a fairly young and well-dressed professor who is really organized, thorough, and clear in her lectures. We are focusing on human metabolism and it's really interesting to learn how the body uses food sources as energy and store them for future use. There are many details to remember, such as the names of regulatory enzymes and intermediates in different pathways (glycolysis, beta oxidation, citric acid cycle, etc), but I don't really mind them. I know I will forget them in the future but it's cool to learn about all those details anyway. Hopefully, by the end of this class, I will have a solid foundation to help me understand the pathophysiology of different metabolic diseases. It seems like studying for biochem is all I want to do nowadays! I know I should put it off for now and focus on anatomy, though. The midterm is a few days away and I haven't even studied for the class!