Fall 2020
Isabel Adams
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Major: Engineering What are your future plans? Medical School. Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Excited!! Hobbies/fun facts: I love hiking and practically anything outdoors. What I love about chemistry: Ochem is like figuring out a puzzle! What advice would you give new students? Make sure you practice a little bit every day.
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Natasha Andreasen
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Major: Engineering What are your future plans? Medical School. Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Thrilled! Hobbies/fun facts: Skiing, backpacking, fly fishing and doting on my dog Danner. What I love about chemistry: It is so intricate and beautiful and yet it makes up everything around us! Like WHAT?!?! Advice to students: Make sure you put in the time! You will enjoy the course more if you put in the hours to learn and get out what you put in! |
Justin Andrews
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Rewarding Hobbies/fun facts: Hiking, skiing, photography. What I love about chemistry: Chemistry, especially Organic Chemistry, is very elegant and complex. I'm continuously fascinated by the power of chemistry to understand the world around us. Advice to students: Make sure to come to discussion prepared! Trying working on the homework or reviewing your notes before discussion, it really helps to master the material faster. |
Jonny Brewer
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Passionate Hobbies/fun facts: I love to play soccer, volleyball, ski, and go boating! What I love about chemistry: There are sometimes multiple ways to come to the same conclusion which may help people with different learning styles. Advice to students: As long as you keep trying your effort will be rewarded.
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Evan Carlson
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Excitement Hobbies/fun facts: I like working out, mountain biking, skiing, and anything else outdoors. What I love about chemistry: I love solving the problems and mechanisms, they're just like puzzles. Advice to students: Don't get discouraged. Once you get the basics down you will have a lot of fun with this class! |
Matt Chambers
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical school Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Satisfying Hobbies/fun facts: I enjoy working out, mountain biking, and backpacking What I love about chemistry: You get to solve puzzles that are applicable to real life Advice to students: Stay on top of the work! Also, make sure to use old worksheets to study for the tests |
Madelyn Chi
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Major: Biology What are your future plans: Undecided (Grad School) Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry: Positive (pun intended) Hobbies/fun Facts: I feel like a grandma; I have back pain and I love crocheting/knitting! I also learned some basic embroidery while quarantined at home. Art is one of my favorite things to do whenever I find the inspiration and the time. What I love about chemistry: It helps us make sense of the world, starting from a molecular level. It's crazy to think about how tiny differences make a huge impact! Advise to students: Even though there is a harsh learning curve, it really does get better! Focusing on understanding how and why things happen during a reaction will help guide you toward the next step. This helps you conquer the complex problems, too. Feel free to reach out for help or clarification - that's what we're here for! |
Spencer Cook
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Major: Psychology What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Exciting Hobbies/fun facts: Campus is a great long boarding resort! What I love about chemistry: It's the math of biology Advice to students: Work together and practice, practice, practice |
Liam Cunningham
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Gratifying Hobbies/fun facts: Exploring, Hiking, Running, Skiing, Quarantining, Boxing, Playing the Cello and other instruments What I love about chemistry: I love how problems are often like a puzzle and can be approached many different way and still get the correct answer. I also love how applicable chemistry is to life from things like the Maillard reaction that give toasted marshmallow that distinct brown and flavor, to the synthesis of TNT and so much more. Advice to students: Do your best at the beginning of the class to really understand what's going on and once it clicks the rest of the class will be so much more manageable and enjoyable. It may take some time though, I would also say making an organizational notebook, it will be invaluable to your understanding as well as on tests and quizzes and even help you into OChem 2. One last thing I would say is meet new people, make study groups, ask for help from TAs and Holly and I promise OChem will be a great experience. |
Jeebika Dahal
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Major: Operations and Supply Chain What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Enthusiastic Hobbies/fun facts: I speak 3 languages. I love to cook/bake. I have hiked several trails in Utah. What I love about chemistry: I love that chemistry can be applied to so many different aspects of life. And I also love the feeling of satisfaction when you finally after several hours understand a concept/ or how a mechanism work. Advice to students: Stay on top of the PDQ and the PS. Also, be sure to review them constantly before exams and quizzes. |
Gabrielle Desjardins
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Major: Chemistry What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Love Hobbies/fun facts: I love to run, hike, and play with my dog (Toby) and my cat (Tulio). I have recently purchased a pet-carrying backpack, so I am hoping to combine the last two hobbies in the future. In my recent streak of boredom, I've decided to try crocheting dinosaur stuffed animals. What I love about chemistry: I love the community. Chemistry can be a difficult subject, but the atmosphere (especially throughout my Organic Chemistry experience) has been positive and motivating. There were times that I broke down because I was so overwhelmed with everything; however, I had a lot of support from my peers, TAs', and Dr. Sebahar that helped me through it. I've met so many inspiring people, and that is what I love the most about chemistry. Advice to students: If your schedule permits, show up to the virtual lectures. It forces you to be engaged, and it allows you to ask questions right when you have them. If you are unable to attend the live lectures, write down questions as soon as they come up, so you don't forget. Then ask those questions either by appointment with Dr. Sebahar, during discussion, or at a TAs' office hours. |
Aruna Dhungel
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Major: Health Society and Policy What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Intrigued Hobbies/fun facts: I love reading, hiking and eating. I am total foodie. What I love about chemistry: It is very challenging but in the end it is very fulfilling as well. Advice to students: If you already know that you will not have enough time for this class don't take it this semester, please wait. In my opinion, this class will require you to invest at least 10 hours a week. If you can't do that, this course will be unnecessarily hard and stressful for you. So take this course when you have the time and energy, and it will be a lot more fun. |
Trisha Enriquez
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Rewarding Hobbies/fun facts: I like to sing, tap dance, and tell really bad jokes. I also LOVE a good dessert and spending time with my family back home in the Philippines. What I love about chemistry: I love how it changes how I see the world around me. Everything that happens in nature has an explanation, and studying chemistry allows me to learn how everything works together to create the world we live in! Advice to students: Work on organic chemistry every day, even if just for a little bit of time. Getting comfortable with concepts as early as possible will prevent you from getting overwhelmed. Never hesitate to ask questions or look for help when you need it. All of your hard work WILL pay off! You're more than capable of success! |
Jessica Garcia
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Major: Exercise and Sports Science What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Excited Hobbies/fun facts: I love the outdoors and spending time with family. Camping is one of my favorite things to do during the summer and you can usually find me on the slopes during the winter. What I love about chemistry: O. Chem is essentially a puzzle, some topics may be a little more difficult than others but everything ties in together which is super fascinating and fun. Advice to students: Have fun while learning organic chemistry and use your resources! |
Lucas Gerbasi
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Excited Hobbies/fun facts: Soccer, hiking, fishing, skiing, hunting What I love about chemistry: The puzzle solving aspect of it Advice to students: Ochem is the best chemistry course you will take. |
Rose Godfrey
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Major: Chemistry What are your future plans? Medical school Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Enjoyable Hobbies/fun facts: I love to ski, play tennis, skateboard, and garden What I love about chemistry: I like that it's kind of a puzzle, especially synthesis and mechanisms; you learn all these concepts and it all comes together in the end. I also like that it's not just straight memorization. Advice to students: Don't procrastinate too much, it's hard to catch back up. Practice helps a lot with this class. |
Chase Hart
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Awakening Hobbies/fun facts: I enjoy caffeine, yoga, and working on old motorcycles. What I love about chemistry: The most satisfying part/what I love the most about chemistry has been learning to draw beautiful hexagons quickly. Advice to students: O-Chem is what you make it; take advantage of all the resources provided for you. If you do, there is no reason not to succeed and enjoy the class. |
Serena Hawatmeh
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Major: Health Society and Policy What are your future plans? Medical School. Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Challenged Hobbies/fun facts: I love exercising and am always looking for fun new types of workouts! I've recently gotten into hiking, climbing, and yoga! What I love about chemistry: I love organic chemistry because it is like a puzzle, rather than just memorizing information and formulas. You really get to test and challenge what you know, and it's so rewarding when you make progress! Advice to students: Organic chemistry is so unique and unlike most science classes you've taken before. Don't feel down if it doesn't click right away! With time and practice you can master it! |
Hope Higgs
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Major: Health Promotion and Policy What are your future plans? Masters of Public Health and Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Challenging Hobbies/fun facts: I love the NBA! What I love about chemistry: I love the problem solving involved in every synthesis or mechanism problem. Achieving the correct final product when given a hard problem is so satisfying and self rewarding. Advice to students: Organic chemistry is challenging. If you take the time to dig deep and understand the 'why' behind every problem, you will be successful in this course. |
Daniel Holzrichter
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Major: Exercise and Sports Management What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Puzzle Hobbies/fun facts: I am a Ski Patroller and an avid fly fisherman. What I love about chemistry: I love that every question is like a puzzle that you continually get to find the pieces too. Advice to students: Take your time, think it through, the light bulb will go off, it may just take some time.
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Emily Huang
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Fascination Hobbies/fun facts: I like to climb with friends and watch movies! What I love about chemistry: I love the applicability of organic chemistry to daily life. This makes learning about so much more interesting as I apply the abstract concepts to concrete examples. Advice to students: Make sure to get out there and meet new people! O-Chem is where I met really great friends and found my study community. |
Trace Jacobsen
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Major: Business Administration What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Thrilled Hobbies/fun facts: Golf, bowling, basketball. I'm color blind and refuse to eat breakfast cereal. What I love about chemistry: The critical thinking that it requires Advice to students: Pre-read the textbook |
Rachel Jones
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Graduate School in Biology Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Elegant Hobbies/fun facts: I am a trail runner and love the mountains. I also love coffee and chocolate. What I love about chemistry: First, I like to think of chemistry as the building block for biology, so the more I understand of chemistry, the deeper I can understand biology. Second, I think of organic chemistry as a puzzle or problem to be solved. It's like math but better. Advice to students: I would advise new students to work as many problems as possible. It makes a big difference and helps on the exam when you can recognize patterns even if the problem is something you haven't seen before. |
Hyonoo Joo
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Major: Engineering What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Limitless Hobbies/fun facts: I enjoy rock climbing and quality vegan cheese. What I love about chemistry: I think it's so cool to understand the molecules we interact with everyday. I love that chemistry is a blend of creativity, challenge, and discovery. Advice to students: This course can be so rewarding with hard work and persistence. Find a good study group and ask your TA's and teachers for help when you need it. You got this! |
Marina Knysheva
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Major: Health Promotion and Policy What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Fascinated Hobbies/fun facts: I love baking, photography, and hiking. What I love about chemistry: I love the mechanisms. Seeing the arrows move and transform one molecule to a new molecule has always been fascinating to me. It's so interesting to think about how quickly these reactions are happening in a flask. Advice to students: Find a study group! Learning organic chemistry becomes much more exciting when you can do it with others. |
Kasper Koblanski
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Major: Engineering What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Absorbing Hobbies/fun facts: I enjoy travelling to visit family in Poland, playing soccer, and learning new games. I'm insanely scared of heights, but I'll always make an exception for skiing. What I love about chemistry: Even though it's difficult to make observations on the smallest scales, I'm always baffled by how accurately we can use models and logic to predict chemistry in our world. Advice to students: Always look out for patterns and trends that make the most sense, especially if no one forces you to. Everyone learns at their own pace, but you always make the most progress when taking the initiative. |
Michelle Le
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Major: Exercise and Sports Science What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Fun Hobbies/fun facts: I love drawing, being outdoors, and spending with family and friends. What I love about chemistry: It's such a broad topic and is used in everyday life. Advice to students: Don't be afraid to ask for help! |
Angelina Liu
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Creative Hobbies/fun facts: I love traveling, playing the piano, and knitting. What I love about chemistry: Chemistry is everywhere. It's so easy to connect what you learn in class to phenomenon you see in everyday life. Advice to students: Develop an effective study plan and stay on top of course material. Don't hesitate to reach out and ask questions! |
Alex Malin
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Major: Medical Laboratory Science What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Fun Hobbies/fun facts: I recently got into canyoneering, one of the most adventurous sports out there, and peak blitzing. I'm definitely an outdoors person What I love about chemistry: Everything has an explanation to the finest detail of understanding. Chemistry helps connect biological processes and makes a lot of other science make sense Advice to students: Go to TA sessions early and get to know your discussion TA. They are there to help and want you to succeed. If you have a question or are stuck, don't google the answer or look it up online. Text your TA and they'll help you understand the concepts. |
Nam Nguyen |
Major: Biology
What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Love Hobbies/fun facts: I like running, baking, and binging K-dramas. What I love about chemistry: It's like physics but without the math or crying. Advice to students: Organic chemistry builds on itself. Work hard early on to set up a good foundation, and all the later things will come much easier
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Samira Saeed
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Major: Biomedical Engineering (premed focus) Chemistry Minor (graduated May 2020) What are your future plans? Biomedical Engineering Masters (graduating May 2021) Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Pretty Hobbies/fun facts: I love dance, choreographing, skiing, film making, hiking, running, traveling (not currently hahaha), makeup, and volunteering. What I love about chemistry: I love that chemistry can give us insight into how our world works down to the smallest detail. Advice to students:
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Anahy Salcedo
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Major: Exercise and Sports Science
What are your future plans? Community Work/Non-Profit Sector Hobbies/fun facts: I like hiking, spending time with friends and family and I love making DIY crafts! What I love about chemistry: I love that you can build on what you learn as you continue to learn and that it can be applicable to things outside of the class. Advice to students: Ask questions; talk to Holly and your TAs! |
Anish Singh
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Major: Finance What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Interesting Hobbies/fun facts: Basketball, weight lifting What I love about chemistry: The real life application of organic chemistry to drug research and innovation. Advice to students: Get help from your TAs, and make sure to take advantage of practice exams and quizzes! |
Tara Tazehabadi
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Love!!! Hobbies/fun facts: I can be very artsy on my free days and I love learning to play new instruments when possible! What I love about chemistry: I love chemistry because it makes life make more sense in different ways! I especially love O-Chem because it allows students to think outside of the box to find the right answers for each problem and find different ways to approach the same problems. Advice to students: Make O-Chem a puzzle to be solved! Make it fun |
Bassel Tekarli
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Major: Chemistry What are your future plans? Medical School
Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Interesting Hobbies/fun facts: I'm an avid hooper (basketball emoji) What I love about chemistry: I love the problem solving nature, and the reward of working through difficult problems. Advice to students: Get organized and get into a rhythm. Especially if you are planning on taking Ochem 2; you will be doing this for an entire year! |
Jon Trujillo
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Major: Postbac What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Thrilled Hobbies/fun facts: I taught social dance for several years. What I love about chemistry: It's the foundation of life. Advice to students: Master the basics. |
Tushig Tsogtbaatar
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry?
Hobbies/fun facts: I love to play tennis, learn K-pop dances, and draw/paint in my free time. What I love about chemistry: Chemistry is a challenging yet rewarding subject that helps us understand the real world with a microscopic lens. It explains why and how everything works and is the foundation of life. Advice to students: There will be a lot of new jargon and new information you have never seen before and can be overwhelming but have patience. We have all gone through the same process so with constant practice and a good attitude you will soon begin to love all the mechanisms and cool reactions that we learn in the semester:) Also, don't be afraid to ask questions. No question is dumb and this is key to understanding why or how something works in organic chemistry.
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Truc Vuong
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Major: Biology (Bachelor degree, graduate 2019), and currently Biomedical Informatics (Master Degree) What are your future plans? PhD in Biology and/or Computational Biology Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Love Hobbies/fun facts: I am an international student from Vietnam and I have been in Utah for more than 5 years! Some of my hobbies are reading, hiking, going on long walks, cooking, and hanging out with friends and family. What I love about chemistry: For me, chemistry and biology always go together. With chemistry, we can understand how our body and life work the way they are! Advice to students: Organic Chemistry might look intimidating at first, but don't be scared! Working on problems and understanding the WHY behind them is essential. I remembered when I took the class many years ago, my TAs, Holly, and my peers were helpful resources, so make sure that you are asking questions whenever you feel lost. Remember that there is no such thing as stupid questions. We are all here and rooting for you guys! And the most important things are ENJOY and HAVE FUN!! ;) |
Mingyang Zhang
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Major: Chemistry What are your future plans? Medical school Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Excited Hobbies/fun facts: I enjoy many outdoor activities like playing tennis, hiking, etc. I can also speak Mandarin fluently. What I love about chemistry: I love how tiny little molecules can have such a big impact in our lives, and learning how they work is exciting to me. Advice to students: Stay on top of the homeworks and always seek out for help! There are so many TAs and each of us have unique way of looking at O chem, if one TA doesn't make sense, try to see if another TA's method makes more sense. |
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