While taking a course, it may feel impossible that you could ever muster sufficientknowledge in that class to get to the level of teaching the subject, however, becoming a TA is as much about continuing your learning experience in a class/subject as it is teaching new students. For the sake of an example, General Chemistry…

Depending on how you decide to complete the Chem major, it can be very possible to complete one, two, or even three minors if you love liberal arts classes like I do! I’ve completed the major in a pretty unique way—I may technically be considered a biological concentration, but I took all the math required…

Whether your eventual career plans see you going on an academic route, an industry route, or somewhat altogether different, one of the most powerful tools we have to explore what we’re most suitable to is summer internships. While many of us do research in labs or volunteer in areas of niche interest during the academic…

Let’s be real. No one really enjoys writing a lab report or doing boring tasks during labs. As chemistry students, you will be repeating the same motions every week, doing seemingly simple tasks like dilutions or separations left and right. You may see your friends do interesting things in their other labs and get real…

During this time of the year, it seems like everybody is more stressed out and irritable as we enter the never-ending prelims-semifinals-finals season. Even though spending every waking minute on studying, jobs, etc., might seem appealing for the academic and financial benefits, it can actually hurt your health in the long run. As college students, we sometimes don’t…

I was originally very intimidated by the prospect of doing research at Cornell. It is crazy to think that you could go from taking a introductory-level course from a professor one year to working alongside them in the lab the next, but I think one of the first things that students going into research have…

You know when Taylor Swift killed the old Taylor Swift and became the newer broodier Taylor Swift? Basically, that happened to me over the course of four years. (I’d like to think I’m still the happy go lucky freshman that came in with all the ambition in the world, but maybe I’m a little more…

My experience in classes has largely been dominated by a reticence to speak up, even when there’s a really interesting concept that I want to know more about. My initial thought is always, “My question is probably super dumb, and everyone already knows the answer except me.” This, in turn, leads to me spending a…

Today I’d like to share some ideas that may seem less immediate than the mechanics of course enrollment and schedule planning, but have been a crucial part of my experience as a chemistry student at Cornell. I believe that one of the most informative resources in navigating the chemistry major does not come in the…

To me, nothing is scarier than not knowing what comes next. So, I try to plan everything out as best as I can. That means that this summer was the time for me to start the graduate school application process. After looking at over 40 graduate programs in chemistry, I had found maybe 15 that…