A guide to surviving Organic chemistry

It is weird how walking into a class on the first day you already have a feeling about the class, the professor, your classmates, and your semester. It almost makes you want to run away screaming and bumping into anyone you meet on your quest to find the nearest exit to save your life. This is exactly how I felt the first day I walked into my Organic chemistry class. I thought well… it is the beginning of the semester and you generally feel that way… adding a tad- bit of nostalgia especially if you had an epic summer like the one I had. Anyway… you assume that the dizziness-fainting type of symptoms you experience (coupled with nausea) upon entering the class will get away as time passes. Trust me… you are so wrong it will fade but it will constantly haunt you and around exams time be as virulent as the flu!

 

 

Some people say that organic chemistry is not hard. Well it is not if you are Asian, or if chemistry is your major (then it better not be hard otherwise you are oh-so screwed!)  or if you really are into this type of topics meaning if you reaaaaally reaaaaally reeeeeeeeeeeaaaaally like chem, then maybe it will not be hard (at least for the first couple of classes). Wait until you get into the whole fischer projection , SN1, SN2, E1, E2 mechanisms with regiospecificity or stereochemistry… you are going to feel like your instructor is speaking everything besides English.

 

 

 

I like to define orgo as another language and it truly is another language. You have to learn how to “speak” organic chemistry and boy this has nothing to do with learning Spanish or whatever. Of course it demands a lot of practice like learning any other language does. But at least, you can incorporate languages into you daily life. With organic the reality can be cruel and oh-so rude: forget your dream of having a life when school is in session, train your body to sleep a minimal amount of hours, be prepared to the fact that your stress level is going to be sky-rocketing during these next 4 months you will be taking it. You will eat, breathe, talk organic chemistry, you will dream about it. In one word it will oversaturate your life and ruin it. That’s how you will know that you are doing well in that class.

 

 

 

I got fooled by my professors saying “Organic is not hard, you just have to put in the time, but most importantly you should not dread it”. I was so gullible… ORGANIC IS HARD! Especially that it is not the only class you will be taking! But! Don’t get overstressed or overscared… just dread it enough to keep up with your work and read your notes and your book and you can be guaranteed that you are increasing your chances of passing the class. Passing with a good grade is a whole other level I was aiming at the beginning of the semester but I realized that I wasn’t being realistic: I had to rescale my expectations and aim for more realistic goals. One thing you should never ever EVER do though is miss a class and if you do, PLEASE, I BEG YOU get notes from someone else and catch up with your work. Because if you do fall behind guess what happens? Well… you're screwed. and don't even think about locking yourself in your room the night before your final thinking you can catch up a whole semester worth of work. Very bad idea. How do I know? I tried...

 

 

Do you feel stressed after reading this? If yes then good! That adrenaline will boost you and turn you into the superman (superwoman) of organic chemistry. It will be hard but at the end your efforts will pay and maybe somewhere along the way you will have as much fun as I had taking organic chemistry.

Signed: a survivor of organic chemistry

Make it meaningful

Thanksgiving: a time to gather around, forgive, share love and happiness, make memories but above all, a time to be thankful for what we are, what we have, what the Lord gave us. A great moment that cheers up your soul and warm your heart as you get around the people you love, those who mean “the world” to you.

Such wonderful feelings that suddenly seem to fade as the shadows take over: Paul Walker is gone. Many have known him, some people haven’t. I haven’t personally known him but if you grew up in a house where fast and furious was part of your culture (not education, there is a difference), then of course you would feel heartbroken and have, at least for a minute, your stomach upside down and your mind all over the place. We could spend years asking why, wondering what happen, trying to convince ourselves that this is not happening but it is and only God knows why and he will always and forever be the only one that has the final word and final version on how this tragic accident happened.

As I have been online myself, trying to understand what happened, I have seen a lot of controversy and debates over the victims death’s, a lot of people making some comment that are insulting, rude and disrespectful to Paul Walker but mostly to his family and friends still trying to cope with this event. He was young (40 is definitely not old), he was an experimented driver (and so was his friend driving the Porsche), he had life ahead of him and I do not believe he had ever thought this would ever happen to him but guess what it did.

This maybe is a time to remember that we do not have all life in front of us: at anytime our life can be taken away and we should make a good use of it. We are not the masters of our fate although we surely play a role into shaping it and determining what it will look like. All the testimony I have heard from him talk about how great of a person he was: dedicated, hardworking, down to earth, always helping others, bringing such a positive energy around him and sharing love with his family, friends, co-workers and reaching out to people in need. He seemed to be a great persona and seemed to have made a great use of his life.

This is probably what we should be working on too as this reminds us that life is never long enough and we never have enough time to do good and share the love with our loved ones. Tomorrow does not belong to us. As a matter of fact we might not even see tomorrow because we are not the absolute masters of our lives, of our fate. As much as we want to live our life to the fullest and enjoy every single bit of it, we ought to do is wisely, we ought to do it through things that are worth being done so that when we are gone, we leave behind us a legacy that will keep us alive in the heart and memory of people we love.

"As we are few weeks away from this New Year, we want to remember those of us who were gone too soon. At the image of this candle, we want to let the memories we have of them enlighten our way darkened by tears and sorrows and their everlasting love warm up our hearts left out in the cold of their absences"

"Bullying Awareness month: Remember Felicia "

“I had to stay weak, and stay silent, because if i say one logical thing I shall be teased until the last breath.”                                        Yasmeen Khair

That might have been the reason why she couldn’t take it anymore, the reason why she gave up on that fight more almost one year ago.

Her name was Felicia Garcia. She was 15 years old and died throwing herself under a train October October 25, 2012. She was a victim of bullying and from what has been said, people responsible for defending her rights, being her voice when she was too weak to rise strong in front of the ones assaulting her emotionally, people who had had the power to stop this mind game didn’t do it. Felicia Garcia was tired of people teasing her, picking on her. She was exhausted by the pulling of people on her emotions who were already weak from a life that had already taken too much of her happiness away from her. She wanted to find peace, to go somewhere she would finally get some rest and drop that burden she was carrying once for good.

People usually say when they tease you “ I am joking” or “it is just a little teasing game” but they don’t know how much the words hurt, how long they stay in your mind and haunt you everyday and every night. They don’t know how it feels to hear them day after day, to be weakened, belittled, and treated as if you are worth nothing. They don’t know how it feels to put a mask and smile everyday, pretend that everything is alright and that their words can’t break you when truly deep down, every single word they pronounce is like a hammer that breaks you and leaves you in pieces. They don’t know that until the day she died, until that day those words pushed her to the breaking point and made her end this mind game by taking away her own life.

A lot of things are being done to help people have better lives: medicare, assistance for ill people, financial aid, opportunity, counseling, fight against hunger, cancer and so one. but really how much is being done to stop bullying? So many teen already lost their lives trying to stand against the reluctant bullying they were subjected to:

“Bart Palosz A 15-year-old Connecticut boy who committed suicide after his first day of school last week underwent years of bullying and published increasing warning signs on social media before his death” reason? bullying

“Jadin Bell, 15, a sophomore at La Grande High, was found hanging from playground equipment at a grade school two weeks ago.”- reason? bullying

“Fourteen-year-old Hannah Smith, of Lutterworth, Leicestershire, England, was found hanged in her bedroom on Friday” (cyberbullying and troll)- reason? Bullying!

“TAMPA, Fla. - For nearly a year, as many as 15 girls ganged up on 12-year-old Rebecca Ann Sedwick and picked on her, authorities say, bombarding her with online messages such as "You should die" and "Why don't you go kill yourself." Rebecca couldn't take it anymore. She changed one of her online screen names to "That Dead Girl." She messaged a boy in North Carolina: "I'm jumping." And then, on Monday, the Lakeland girl went to an abandoned concrete plant, climbed a tower and hurled herself to her death.”- reason? More f*cking bullying!

“Jamey Rodemeyer, from Buffalo, New York, cried for help online for months before his death and his family and friends said suicide was a popular topic with him. He regularly posted about being bullied at school and how people would launch gay insults at him…But what was worse for Jamey, was that when he wrote of his pain and frustrations and cried for help in his blog postings, students at his school started to bully him online. About 12 months ago on his Formspring account - which permits anonymous posts - other students started making gay references towards him.

'JAMIE IS STUPID, GAY, FAT ANND UGLY. HE MUST DIE!' read one post.

Another read: 'I wouldn't care if you died. No one would. So just do it :) It would make everyone WAY more happier!'

On September 9, Jamey wrote on his Tumblr site: 'I always say how bullied I am, but no one listens. What do I have to do so people will listen to me?'” – reason behind suicide?  F*ncking bullying and people doing nothing and if they were, it was to make things worse by pushing him closer to the grave with those kind of words.

The statistics for teens with bullying induced suicide are alarming. According to the CDC bullying if ranked third among the leading causes of death for young people aged 10 to 24 years old. Bullying suicide results in 4400 lives lost each year (yes you did read right). Felicia wasn’t the first one and she won’t be the last because they are still some people out there that do not understand that word can do more harm than sticks and stones. Until those people bullying the rest of the world and picking on them “just to joke around” or “have some fun” are not taught tolerance, acceptance and told that they should not be messing around with other people emotion, we will continue helplessly to cry our sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, cousins, nephews, nieces and so on.

In this Bullying awareness month, let’s all stand against bullying. No more bullying, no more crying, no more teen taking away their lives because of words/names they are being called. Let’s put an end to bullying so that what happened to Felicia never happens again.

“I bet the people who were bullying you only dreamed about one thing: being like you. They couldn’t so they tried to break you down. They thought they had succeeded but they were wrong.  Now you are in a place where they won’t touch you and where their words won’t matter anymore. You are one of these stars in the sky, shinning bright when everything seems dark (as usual)… we will never forget you Felicia. RIP”

Seize the moment

Struggle for months, years; day after day fighting that battle to break free of your broken self. Imagine getting emotionally to a place that feels warmer, where you can forget about your pain. A place where life treats you better than it ever did in such a way that little by little, you get more confident about the future and start letting go of your broken self. You then realize that you are stronger than you have ever been, that you have ever known you could be.

Being able to find your piece of paradise, you land of happiness. For the first time you feel like everything fits exactly where it is supposed to, you are happy, smiling. You are invincible and it is as if things that used to break you yesterday can’t even hurt you as of today. You have reached a place where the time, the environment, your emotions as well as yourself are in symbiosis, working together at the same momentum to help you reach that place of absolute happiness and peacefulness.

But then comes that moment where you can’t seem to fall asleep as you are tormented by that one thought that is constantly on your mind. You are overwhelmed by this weird and scary feeling of uncertainty: how can everything be so perfect? Where is all that happiness coming from? What if I was waking up tomorrow and all that was gone? What if it was just a dream?

Too obsessed waiting for the downfall to come instead of taking in all that positive energy and all those good vibrations surrounding you. Too focused on that day you will have to say goodbye instead of smiling and enjoying those invaluable moments of selfish, uncomplicated love and happiness you will never get back once they are gone.

Don’t let your past haunt you and hold you from being happy for what have been yesterday might not be tomorrow. Don’t be afraid to listen to your heart and take a bet (even the riskier ones) for brighter tomorrows because when it comes to your heart and feelings forecasting doesn’t always work. So don’t live for what you hope tomorrow will bring you, but rather live for what today has to offer.

"Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is."
—Mary A. Hershey

Finding mr Right: few things you first need to get right

“The right man will love all the things about you that the wrong one was intimidated by.” Unknown

I was trying to find a way to open this article and I thought a quote would be more original than my usual rhetorical questions (especially after one week without an article... I had some technical problems. sorry guys).
Finding the right man… it can be such a hassle especially when you are dating. Most of the time, with the years passing and as you become used to it you can find the right one. You can (possibility) but again with some people it might take longer and turn out to be very frustrating.

Having a parade of men entering and exiting your life like a runway is not something you can be cool about especially when time is not on your side and that you really are eager to have someone nice to settle with. yes I named it “settle”! there is a time where it is a real fun to have a “break up to make up” relationship (although for some of us who are really focusing on trying to establish something you know… more stable it can be very disturbing). But passed that period, you need to grow up and keep on moving on with your life. You graduate from H.S, go to college. Then you graduate from college, find a nice job, end up having a wonderful career. And one day, you reconnect with some friends from college and/or H.S and you realize that ¼ of them are married, ½ are in a serious (very serious) relationship, 1/8  are engaged and the other 1/8 are  still going wild (Y.O.L.O.  I guess…).

At this very moment you realize that you have almost everything you have ever wanted but you are missing the big thing in the picture: that very person you would love to share all you joys, doubts, achievements and memorable moments with. That person you could go to at the end of the day that can cheer you up when your boss has been a tiny bit too bossy, or when you got only shit out of your day. That person you could love unconditionally and open your heart to because your are not afraid of letting him see the real you. Instead, you keep on dating those lame guys, those losers that keep on coming in, get what they want and leave you with nothing but a broken heart. If not them, you get the ones that don’t even know what they want beside “keep it cool” with you. Really? You need to stop doing that to yourself.

You need to go out with your group of emotionally-successful-in-relationship friends and see them happy. Then go back to your house and think of that night out with them as a serious kick in your butt and a wakeup call to start fixing your silly love life. Once you do that, sit down and have a serious and honest talk with yourself. What type of man do you want in your life? Why is it that you are always ending up with the wrong guys? Why is it that you are always being dumped and always getting your heart broken? What type of relationship you are looking for? You have to figure this out first before the next time you go out on a date with some stranger adding up to your  parade (unless you are not tired of constantly being emotionally bruised and have your heart crushed then you are welcomed to go ahead and jump in head first).

You don’t want a boy that thinks that being in a relationship is a game and that everytime he breaks a woman’s heart and wins her back again gives him extra points. You don’t want a guy that will mock your principles and belittle you or emotionally force you to put his little ego before your happiness. Neither do you want or need, someone who does not have enough space in his life to let you in except when he is home, alone, bored and looking for someone to spend the night with. You don’t need and you don’t want to make yourself go through that much sorrows and inflict more damage than you have already had to your self-esteem. You want and need a man that will love you the way you are, that will understand your principles and abide by your standards to help you become a better person. You need a man that will stand for you and fight for you when he needs to and not walk away like a wimp at the first sign of adversity, giving ridiculous excuses. You need someone that will Profess, Provide and Protect you no matter what challenges that will come in. You need someone that will respect you and your values and you need yourself to step up for what you believe in. if he does not agree with your terms, don’t be afraid to let him know that he is free to walk away. You need a man in your life, not a boy because no matter what happens, at the end of the day “Boys shack, MEN build homes”

As this is my last article before going on a well-deserved vacation, I want you to think about all that. Consider what has been said and keep what you think is good and helpful for you to move on and find the right MAN for you. Be true to yourself and let the other people see that, don’t be afraid to let that one guy go if you feel like deep inside he is not the right one for you because somewhere out there is a man ready to commit to you and waiting to make you happy. Don’t spit on that.

Smile and be happy J see you in back in September.