Greetings, my lovely readers! IĀ hope yāall are doing well and having a great week š.Ā This week for me has definitely been interesting to say the leastā¦. I am really glad that most of my tasks for the week have been done, so my weekend should be quite chill (fingers crossedā¦with me something is always happening lmao). So for this weekās blog, I thought I would give you guys a behind the scenes of what my days in the lab look like at Wellesley. So Mondays and Tuesdays are my lab days. Each one is like 3.5 hours (yeah I know … .they are really long, I am always so tired by the time Iām done š).Ā
Every Monday afternoon typically starts the same way: goggles on one hand, no drinks to fuel my system (we are not allowed to drink in the lab, and it truly hurts me everytime yāall), and then me sitting at a lab bench trying to go over the pre-lab material and convince myself that I do, in fact, understand itā¦.(most times I do, but to be honest with you guys sometimes I just wing it, and it always works! š ). The lab fills slowly, everyone looking just a little too sleepy for science, and the TA cheerfully reminds us to ābe careful with that one ā itās flammable.ā Great start.
Even though the lab sessions can be so intense, I lowkey love when we get to do really cool reactions. There’s something kindaĀ cinematic about setting up for a reaction (this is part of me living in delusion and being the main character again, so yāall just walk with me š). Okay, so picture this: rows of glassware gleam under fluorescent lights, the smell of acetone lingers in the air. Then you have me in the corner pretending I know what Iām doing as I wrestle a rubber hose onto a condenser and staring in amazement as our reaction actually starts to work and we realize we actually did it correctly lmaoo. Typically,Ā my lab partner and I always share this silent look with each other that tells a story without us even needing to speakĀ ā Itās very much a look that gives āwe might accidentally invent a new compound today, but at least weāll do it together.ā
Okay, so Iām gonna try and give yāall a run through of this weekās goal without using all the wordy chemistry terms because it’s just a lot and it will probably bore yāall lmaoo (unless youāre into that sort of stuff of course, then youāll appreciate this š). So on Monday, we were basically testing two mixtures, one for chlorine and one for bromineā¦.We wanted to see which one would be better for performing a substitution reaction. Essentially, to give you the long story short, we threw a bunch of chemicals together and watched the reaction take place. Then we performed an analysis afterā¦..Okay now I know this week might not sound like the most thrilling thing ever (I agreeā¦.) but other weeks we get to do some cool stuff I promise you guys!Ā One week, we did a reaction with ibuprofen which produced a really cool bubble product in a flaskā¦
This is the really cool reaction we did a couple of weeks ago with ibuprofen. The bubbles formed during the first stage of the reaction and we got a really cool picture of it! Photo creds go to me š
This picture is from the most recent lab I had. All the flasks and blue rubber you see are some of the really cool pieces of equipment that we get to use in lab. All with gloves of course, we don’t want any accidents y’all….
Itās kind of a vibeĀ lowkeyā¦..I get super focused on what Iām doing, and when I lock in I honestly am so productive. The only thing that sometimes throws me off is the music in the background … .So basically for every lab, we have a spotify playlist that plays while weāre working and yāall some of the song choices??? One word: Yikes! Our professor lets us add our own songs each week, but if we forget to, he usually just plays whatever he likes and oh my goodnessā¦Guys itās bad š³ā¦ā¦I mean yāall already know that my music taste slaps, so everytime I add songs on there its always a hit with the class! What can I say, I am truly just great like that š„¹.Ā
So anyways back to the lab lmaoo! By the time we clean up, my gloves are super sticky from all the chemicals, my sleeves smell faintly like ether, and my brain is fried because of all the chemistry I just took in during that 3.5 hour period. Every time I leave the lab and head back to my room, I am back in that movie scene againā¦., the campus feels brighter and there is me strolling through headphones in like the main character I am š.Ā
Maybe thatās what Orgo lab is teaching me: that itās okay to not always get ācolorless crystals,ā that science is messy and beautiful, and that sometimes, the best results come from a happy accident and trust me guys I make a lot of thoseā¦š.Ā
So anyways, even though I started the lab panicking over pipettes and color changesā¦I left the lab smiling like I had just conquered the world (even though all I did was perform an organic chemistry reaction lmao) But still 10/10 labāno notes. Thank yāall for joining me for yet another chaotic but oddly wholesome lab adventure. I hope yāall enjoyed this little peek into my chemical shenanigans! I canāt wait to catch up with yāall soon, and in the meantime, I hope your Mondays are filled with fewer fumes and more fun.
See you soon, loveliesss!
With love,
Your favorite Brit x ā„ļø