CHEM 453PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY FOR BIOCHEMISTS (II)
Just as CHEM452 content overlapped with CHEM145, CHEM453 content overlapped with some of the material from CHEM155. In this case, that overlap in quantum mechanics was very useful. Dr. Ginger had previously taught us in detail and explain the derivations for key quantum concepts that I remembered. As a result, even though CHEM453 relied more heavily on memorization of equations than conceptual knowledge, I already had a background on some of the quantum material that I would normally be horribly confused by. I got through the material okay during the class - I had formed a study group of sorts with some people also in BIOC451 or who had been in CHEM452 with me - but the end of Winter 2020 was when everything began to shut down due to sars-cov-2 concerns. As a result, the last quiz and my final were both online and the formatting was odd. The quiz was on MasteringChemistry and using the value 8.314J/molK for the constant R instead of 8.31J/molK lost us 20% of the points. We printed out the final, completed it in the given time, and then uploaded it within 10 minutes of the end of the final. It was a stressful final for a multitude of reasons. Not only was it the first of its type that I had ever completed but it was uploaded later than the final start time and full of reviewer's comments. It was oddly small in font and didn't seem to be fully finalized. Regardless, I completed it as the time ran out and hurried to upload it. I would say that, although it was maybe the best that could be done in such a short period, the last two assignments were not the fairest they could be. I have attached my final as an artifact to display my clearly rushed work and the odd formatting I had to work with. Although I was happy with how much I studied, completing the final the way I did was still a new experience (and an unpleasant one).
bioc 451HONORS BIOCHEMISTRY II
This was an odd biochemistry class taught by the ex-Chair of the biochemistry department. Like BIOC450 it did not focus on memorization and instead we went over new content each lecture and were expected to complete some analysis on it. In this case the analysis was frequently completed regarding a paper using the method and meant to be a ~300 word abstract about the topic. I've attached my graded final assignment as the artifact. The final essay was meant to be a research grant application and I spent days working on it. I learned a lot about conducting research reviews, investigating methodology, and putting together a reasonable research proposal. Although I am not entirely sure of how I lost all the points I did, I greatly appreciated this opportunity to try my hand at proposal writing and understanding how to put a project together.
Honors 211 BPUTTING ON THE REX: REPRESENTATIONS OF GREEK MYTH IN FILM
This was my first film class and one of the most fun electives that I have taken. I've been interested in Greek mythology since my mom introduced me to Arachne and when I was younger I devoured a book from my elementary school library about Greek mythology. I don't remember what it was called - all I remember is that it was in the Dewey Decimal portion of the books from 0-300 probably based on location. Later, I read Edith Hamilton's Mythology and Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson books. Given my early investment and love for Greek mythology, I thought it would be enjoyable to take a course on the material, even if it was at 8:30AM. In the class we viewed a variety of films which adapted portions of Greek myths and included the katabasis cycle, a common motif within Greek mythology. In this class I learned a lot about watching for small details in films and how carefully directors plan out their films, a skill that I expanded to movies I watch with my friends and family. Unfortunately, I also found elements of the katabasis cycle in my casual movies and my friends found themselves listening to me monologue about something they had never heard of before in their lives. As my artifact I've attached my final assignment for the class. Our prompt was to either create an original film or script based on a Greek myth. Although I had originally hoped to create a short film combining the myth of Icarus with either rockclimbing or Asian Indian parenting, I found that I did not have the time, equipment, or skill to create it successfully during the single final's week. Instead, I created a script combining the myth of Arachne with a nebulous world in which gods and mortals roam together. This was very much a case in which my ambition outstripped my ability but is also a world which I felt very much attached to and inclined to write about. Although the story is rough, somewhat confused, and messy, I really enjoyed working on it and would enjoy coming back to it and making a better story or comic out of it.
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