Former Teaching Assistants
Maggie Simmons
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical school/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Collaborative Hobbies/fun facts: I do pottery and if I didn't want to go to medical school I would be a graphic designer or wedding planner! What I love about chemistry: There are so many things to love! Specifically, how satisfying it is to find the solution to a problem, the fact that we can apply what we learn to understand more about the world, and the common struggle it creates that helps students to bond. Advice to students: Find a study group and work through problem sets and PDQs with them! Also, find a TA whose style makes sense to you and stick with them throughout the semester. Always ask questions early, and keep a list of questions you have during lectures so you can get them answered by Holly or a TA!
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Andrew Mardini |
Major: Psychology What are your future plans? Medical school/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Fun Hobbies/fun facts: I love playing golf and hanging out with my dog. What I love about chemistry: Working with people What advice would you give new students? Ask for help.
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Alex Malin |
Major: Music What are your future plans? Medical/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Stoked Hobbies/fun facts: I am an adrenaline junky and love the outdoors. I rock climb, go canyoneering, mountain bike, ski, mountaineering, ice climbing, camp, and just about anything else. What I love about chemistry: I love the level of detail and the ability to always find a concrete reason behind why molecules behave the way they do. Chemistry has simple ideas that are expounded upon to create mind-boggling problems! What advice would you give new students? Ask questions and ask more questions! Talk to as many TA's as possible when a concept doesn't make sense. Sometimes you just need to hear something from a different perspective.
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Sydney Larsen
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Major: Chemistry What are your future plans? Medical/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Compelling Hobbies/fun facts: I actually hated Chemistry in high school but now it's my major! What I love about chemistry: I love how it feels like piecing together a puzzle. Especially in organic chemistry, when you draw out a mechanism and it all works out, it's so incredibly satisfying. Advice to students: Practice makes perfect! Going back and reworking PDQ's and other worksheet material in preparation for a test is so helpful.
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Dana Jaber |
Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Fascinated Hobbies/fun facts: I love science, anatomy dissection, traveling, and hanging out with friends and family. What I love about chemistry: I'm going to be honest, I originally hated chemistry but organic chemistry was a total game changer for me. Organic chemistry is so amazing and interesting, the real world applications of it are so fascinating. I also really love the challenge of putting pieces of a puzzle together, in a way you sort of become a molecular architect or artist. What advice would you give new students? Practice, practice, practice! Avoid memorizing, develop a good studying system for yourself, don't cram the night before tests, don't be afraid to ask for help, go to office hours and take a deep breath you're going to do fine! (:
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Scotty McMullin
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Major: Chemistry What are your future plans? Medical/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Happy Hobbies/fun facts: I have been learning how to salsa dance this last summer and am still a beginner. I like to work on my car because I believe I am a smart person, however, I am not good at it. A fun fact about me is my favorite food is Indian Food but I love ice cream. What I love about chemistry: I love the patterns in chemistry. There are just so many patterns :) Advice to students: What helped me the most was practicing problems from the PDQs, Saturday Review, and discussion problem sets. I am also a huge fan of summary sheets because they help my brain to organize the information.
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Guari Garg
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Satisfying (esp drawing benzene rings) Hobbies/fun facts: I love skiing! Catch me on the ikon pass resorts this winter! What I love about chemistry: It's not as much rote memorization as biology and not as painful as physics. It takes the best from both sciences. Advice to students: Organic Chemistry is the one class where you CANNOT get away with skipping lecture, sleeping through discussions, not relying on your TAs, missing out on extra credit, or copying assignments. It's a whole different breed. For the exams specifically, I recommend redoing the PDQs, PSs, and reaction mechanisms sheets (the latter redo many times), as those are going to be most similar to the exams. Also make study groups!! I relied on my friends so so much in ochem, especially my current TA buddy :) the class REALLY picks up around exam 3 (rip synthesis) so don't be fooled if you don't have to put in as much effort in the first two exams. Finally, going to the TA office hours and Holly's office hours will be your best friend. The material is really hard to digest by yourself so use your resources; Holly gives A TON of resources. Now enough scaring everyone, you guys will all be fine but just be ready to put the work and effort into this class and everyone will be successful.
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Aruna Dhungel
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Major: Health, Society and Policy What are your future plans? Medical/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Riddle Hobbies/fun facts: I love to eat, read, and sleep. I also enjoy going on hikes and love the Utah Mountains. What I love about chemistry: I love that every reaction in organic chemistry is like a puzzle. It can look super complicated and scary at first, but the clues given to you every day will make things easier. It will eventually start to make sense and click. What advice would you give new students? Make sure to practice every day! Don't get behind. And also find/make a study group, it makes studying a lot more fun.
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Liam Cunningham
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Major: Biology What are your future plans: Medical/PA 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.
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Evan Carlson
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Rewarding! Hobbies/fun facts: I love golfing, running, skiing, and just about anything outdoors What I love about chemistry: I love how each problem is a new and unique puzzle. Advice to students: Don't get discouraged and don't compare your success to that of your classmates. There is a huge learning curve and everyone picks up the basics at a different pace. Once I was able to push through the initial challenges, this became my all-time favorite class!
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Alex Ballinger
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Satisfying Hobbies/fun facts: I love to be outside, anything with a beach is great. Traveling is my passion. What I love about chemistry: Finding something that works is very gratifying, and with chemistry there are so many real world ways to get to an answer which is cool because there’s so many different first steps you can take. What advice would you give new students? Practice. Organic chemistry is like a puzzle, once something clicks it can all come together to be very rewarding. |
Daryl Morrison
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Major: Biology & Psychology What are your future plans? MD/PhD Dual Degree Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Excited Hobbies/fun facts: I have two 15 pound rabbits and spend most of my free time in the winter in the mountains. What I love about chemistry: Chemistry is endlessly fascinating and will make you think about aspects of life that are typically easily ignored in a new light. There are so many phenomena explained by basic chemistry (often organic based chemistry!) that you'll find yourself looking at the world differently for having chemical knowledge. Advice to students: Keep up with all the new reactions you are learning and make flash cards! The more you know the terms, the easier it will be to apply them and understand what's going on
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Sam Embley
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Major: Psychology What are your future plans? Pharmacy School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Love! Hobbies/fun facts: I love to travel, try new restaurants/foods, snowboard, and go out with friends! What I love about chemistry: I love how chemistry always keeps me thinking and how I can apply it to everyday things Advice to students: Keep an open mind and don't be afraid to ask for help!
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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! |
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. |
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 |
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. |
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! |
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. |
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! |
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. |
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 |
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! |
Michelle Le |
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! |
Alex Malin |
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. |
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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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! |
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. |
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!! ;) |
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Tanner Smith
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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 golfing. What I love about chemistry: Mechanisms. Advice to students: The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it. |
Josh Bromley
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Major: Physics What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Passionate Hobbies/fun facts: Cyclist, runner, fly fisherman, nordic skier. What I love about chemistry: I love problems solving - its like a game! Advice to students: Familiarize yourself with the material before lecture and discussion. |
Katie Jones
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Major: Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
What are your future plans? To graduate with my undergraduate. I’m not sure yet what is coming afterward yet. Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Interested Hobbies/fun facts: For fun, I love spending time with my friends and family. I like to hike, hang out in coffee shops, watch movies, and go to football games. And my fun fact is that I don’t like chocolate covered strawberries, in fact, I don’t like chocolate with any kind of fruit. What I love about chemistry: I love chemistry because I love how versatile and powerful a little bit of chemistry knowledge is. I also totally love organic chemistry because it always seemed to work like a set of rules or laws, and if you understand them, then you can figure any problem out. Advice to students: I have two pieces of advice. First, rewrite your notes as your first form of studying. Always rewrite your notes! Second, failing on an assignment or a test is not the end of the world. In fact, you should use it as an opportunity to learn and grow. |
Heather Cummins
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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 hiking, skiing, and traveling! I also love fall because it is football season! Go Utes! What I love about chemistry: Chemistry is amazing because it explains everything about our world. If you want to know how antibiotics work or where rocket fuel comes from, chemistry has the answers. It is so elegant and amazing to learn about these things! Advice to students: Everything is going to be okay! If you study the material and work hard, organic chemistry will be a great class, and always keep in mind that we are here to help you in any way we can! |
Hector Torresphoto |
Major:
What are your future plans? I want to go into pharmacy school. I am planning on applying next fall. Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Stock-Home syndrome Hobbies/fun facts: I like do some hard-core clubbing (school clubs obviously). I'm involved in LIA, global brigades, ACS, Pre-pharm club, and crimson e-sports. I also like to do service. For fun I play video games. What I love about chemistry: ORGANIC CHEMISTRY!!! Is there any other kind of chemistry. It is like doing puzzles all day. Once you figure out the puzzle you fill so accomplished. Advice to students: I find O-chem 2 is not the most difficult class when it comes to concept. However it will be a very time intensive class. To do well in this class it will require time and dedication. |
Tate Matthews
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Major: Psychology What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Tingly Hobbies/fun facts: When I use a public restroom I always put toilet paper down on the seat first. What I love about chemistry: It is an elegant pattern of trends and logic that is like a fun puzzle. I also love trying to visualize the molecules interacting in 3D. Advice to students: Do the Reactions worksheet like 20 times and once you can do it fast without thinking too hard you should be good. |
Nicholas Duke
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Major: Psychology What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Engrossing Hobbies/fun facts: I especially enjoy catching bugs and other creatures, hiking and exploring with my wife, reading textbooks (jkjk), running, lifting weights, and I would not be writing this if I did not sincerely enjoy o. chem. What I love about chemistry: I like how chemistry becomes predictable. There are a set of laws that nature follows the majority of the time; however, chemistry always does something unexpected, which gives it a spontaneous fluffy personality. I appreciate how kinetics, and thermodynamics, discussed in General Chemistry I and II are very applicable in to the material covered in organic chemistry. The greatest thing of all is that chemistry is applicable to self. Organic reactions occur in our own bodies as well as the environments in which we place ourselves. Guys and gals, that means that it is applicable to everyday life. Advice to students: I caught a snake the other day near a river. My wife practically called me a murderer because I flung it into the river. The truth she discovered from the whole silly situation was that I knew snakes could swim the whole time. Guys, organic chemistry might seem intimidating, but you can do it. Sit down pull out the worksheets and try. I have planted a genuine seed of faith that if I do this, I will indeed succeed. You can do the same. Snakes may look scary, slimy, and poisonous, but they they are just as scared, if not more scared, of us then we are of them. I invite you to ignore all that you have heard or read about how people feel about o. chem. and embark on a quest to find out for yourself. |
Rachel Lee
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Major: Chemistry What are your future plans? High School Teacher Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Obsessed Hobbies/fun facts: I love playing tennis, boating, hiking, and pretty much anything that can get me outside! What I love about chemistry: I love how things happening at the atomic level make up everything in our lives, and how changing just one small thing about a tiny molecule alters it's entire function. It is fascinating to me that something so simple can do so much. Advice to students: Don't be afraid to ask questions! You can't memorize organic chemistry, you need to understand the WHY behind it. No matter the question we can find an answer for you! |
Jason Tey
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Major: Biology
What are your future plans? Medical School. Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Awe-inspiring Hobbies/fun facts: I LOVE tennis! What I love about chemistry: Advice to students: Chemistry is a complement to biology. It really helps me to learn and understand the biological processes in our body -- way better than learning them through rote rehearsals and without ever understanding how they happen. 1) Please work super duper hard during the introduction chapters to organic chemistry at the beginning. Don't get distracted from them. They will really help you down the road to understand why the different reactions go on as they do. 2) I also recommend honing your skills using the discussion and post-discussion worksheets; I made sure that I got the "correct" understanding for each of those problems. I annotated my worksheets as well; I wrote down my own thoughts. You always hear about to think out loud, but I felt writing them down will let you see the explanation even clearer. 3) Don't be shy in organic chemistry. Solidarity can help to overcome a lot of things, and all of you are in this together. Go out and make study groups, either with your best buddies or new friends in the class. I had really good friends to study with, and they had given me the a-ha moments that I needed from time to time. 4) We, the TAs, are also here, because we desired to. So, please, don't feel like you are going to burden us. We want you guys to come to us for questions or whatever comfort that we may offer. We want to guide you guys down the less stressful path of organic chemistry. Good luck! |
Presley Azarcon
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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: I love being outside! Camping, hiking, climbing, and running are some of my favorite hobbies. What I love about chemistry: Organic Chemistry is kind of like a giant puzzle. It's fun trying to figure out how all of the pieces work together. Advice to students: Everyone is capable of doing well in this class, it truly is a matter of pulling out those cat claws! Don't lose hope if you ever find yourself struggling (I failed my second exam). There are so many resources available to help sharpen those claws and get you back on the right track. |
Kade Loveridge
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Major: Chemistry What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Passionate Hobbies/fun facts: I love to ski, play soccer, and I am a total foodie. What I love about chemistry: It is intellectually stimulating, challenging, and it gives me perspective into what a fascinating and spectacular universe we live in. Advice to students: Don't just try to get a grade. If you can learn to be genuinely interested in the subject then the grade will follow and it will be much more enjoyable. |
Forest Riekhof
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Major: Chemistry
What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Enthusiastic Hobbies/fun facts: I love chemistry and medicine, and enjoy traveling in my free time. What I love about chemistry: It's ability to explain the world as we see it in extraordinary detail Advice to students: Organic chemistry is like a language- while there is some memorization, recognizing patterns will get you much further in this class! This is why I recommend Organic chemistry as a second language by Klein to build a good foundation in the first month. |
Riley Pence
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Major: Chemistry
What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Enamored Hobbies/fun facts: In my family we speak a combined total of 10 languages, and my favorite fruit is watermelon. What I love about chemistry: Everything follows patterns and laws. It's incredibly structured. Advice to students: Smith homework and rxn worksheets are an absolute must if you want to understand the material. Repitition is key! |
Carly Shieldsphoto coming soon
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Major: Human Development and Family Studies What are your future plans? Medical School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Enriching Hobbies/fun facts: Some of my favorite things include kids, piano, BBQ sauce, onions, Earl Grey Tea, skiing, hiking (really anything outdoors), journaling, friends and family. What I love about chemistry: Organic Chemistry is one of the most challenging classes I have ever taken and yet it is also by far my favorite class. By challenging me to think differently than I ever had before, O-Chem gave me confidence, a strong new skill set and a mindset that science can be fun! Advice to students: My biggest advice is to stay on top of O-Chem. Always do (and re-do) the homework, PDQ’s and discussion worksheets. Never be afraid to ASK QUESTIONS until you understand every topic thoroughly. ’Also, good study buddies make O-Chem much more enjoyable (and less overwhelming). Find someone you work well with and arrange a time every week to work together. |
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