#the real reason i'm a chem major

[plasmamembranes]

me rn taking algebra and chemistry

[a-flickering-soul]

i am considering changing my major to engineering but I have basically no experience with it. any thoughts about what someone should expect maybe pros and cons or something. you don't have to respond lol I can always do more of my own research instead, sending this ask was kind of an impulse ig

Hi, thank you so much for the ask! I miss doing engineering and talking about it, so I'm always happy to answer any questions about my experience doing engineering in college.

Engineering as a college major is exactly as hard as everyone tells you, but if you know that going in, it helps a lot. I was perfectly happy to spend most of my free time doing homework and very carefully managing my time to allow myself breaks and time for hobbies, but for many people that's either not feasible or not pleasant. What helps a great deal is finding support systems (friends to study with/share answers, extra tutoring, Chegg) and really getting smart about where your weaknesses are as a student (mine was figuring out exactly what I didn't understand and attacking it). Expect to get nominally terrible grades, but with a generous curve.

Cons would be the workload and the expectation that you really should get real-world experience through summer internships or co-ops, making it difficult to find any sort of downtime (I genuinely cannot stress this enough, you will be hustling your ass off). Pros would be (and I also cannot stress this enough) very, very reasonable job security. While I am not working a nominally engineering job, my engineering degree made me a very competitive candidate, and this holds true for a lot of professions. While, of course, it is not a 100% guarantee, engineering majors do make pretty good placements for decent salaries and for me that was very important. Also, when I actually did engineering stuff and not coursework, I really liked it! You don't have to be particularly smart to be an engineering student-- you just have to work hard and be able to think constantly. I really loved the content, getting to run through the reiterative process of design with a team, and being able to have a tangible product to show for our work. If that's something you like, then you might want to consider it, because once you get through the pre-reqs to focus on your interests, it's really damn fun.

I will say though as a more specific note-- you mentioned you're changing your major into engineering. I don't know from what field you're transferring into, or what year, but it's important to know that all engineering degrees have a substantial amount of pre-reqs to take as a freshman/sophomore before you even think of taking a major-specific engineering class (usually Physics I & II, Chem I & II and maybe Orgo, and Calc I-II). These pre-reqs will wipe you out, even if you do them all on-schedule. They are purposefully weeder courses because academia is hell and engineering academia is an even deeper layer of hell. It's definitely doable to take these pre-reqs while not being a freshman and still graduate on time-- I have a few friends that were able to manage it-- but you will hustle and it will most likely not be pleasant, unless you are smarter and more hard-working than I am. It can be done though, and I would suggest talking to either an academic advisor about what you need to do or with people you know that are engineering majors already.

Of course, this is just my two cents-- any other engineering folk, please feel free to add on. If you want to ask follow-ups or DM me directly, by all means do so! I hope this helps!

[actualhumansunshine]

Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?? Fingers crossed that this makes it to your inbox.

I’m a few hours early, but wanted to make sure I wished you a “Happy Birthday!” I hope you are doing well and your 32nd trip around the sun is a memorable one. Were you able to see Niall while he was on tour? Did you get to have your gooey cake (can’t remember what you call it, but you poke holes in the cake and then pour condensed milk, I think, over the holes)? I think I remember reading about this in one of your posts/in your tags. Gosh I miss reading your tags on things 😭 Anyway, let’s get to the real reason why I’m here. 1.) something you learned the last year

2.) something you regret

3.) something you wish someone had told you

4.) what do you want to be when you grow up

5.) a song you heard that you love

Hoping you spend your day doing something fun and you are content (or feeling however you wish - hey maybe you want to be sad and that’s ok). Thinking of you. 🥳

HELLO!!!! before we get into the rest of it i just want to say how much i appreciate you showing up every single year, and that goes doubly so now when i've been more mia than not 😭

unfortunately i wasn't able to see niall on tour (the downsides of living in buttfuck nowhere 😔), but rand and gwen sent me some really lovely videos when they went to the MSG shows so i almost feel like i DID see him.

and you remembered the cake too omg!! you're right, you pour condensed milk and caramel over it, then top with whipped cream. it's SO fucking good. this year tho, i decided to get an oreo blizzard ice cream cake from dairy queen and it was fucking delicious.

anyways onto the questions:

i don't exactly know how to phrase this as 'something i learned' but i feel like my biggest takeaway from the past year is that i finally feel like at the big ol' age of 31 going on 32 i'm like....coming into myself? figuring out who i am and what i like and how i want to spend my time and who i want to surround myself with and all of that. so maybe the thing i've learned is that what everybody says about your 30s being the time when you REALLY get to enjoy life as a fully realized human is actually true.

this isn't a cop out i swear, but i....don't think i have a regret from the past year? at least not anything major that really stands out rn? there's maybe a fleeting thought every once in a while that i wish i could've gotten to this part of my life where i really do feel so happy and fulfilled sooner, but i don't know that it's necessarily a regret because ultimately isn't it the journey that makes us who we are...

oh god, i really am just gonna be repeating myself from the past however many fucking years but GENUINELY it's ok to not have everything figured out!!! the day will come when it starts falling into place and up until that point it kinda fucking sucks but that's ok!!!! again, it's all just part of the journey 💕

honestly i LOVE that job i'm in right now so if i could just do that...i'd be so down (and yes it is the same job i talked about last year lol)

and once again, as per usual, you fucking know me and you know that i could never share just ONE song, so here's a top five of the year:

charlie xcx - von dutch (literally THEEE gym song of all time)

zach bryan - the good i'll do

tyler childers - all your'n

artic monkeys - stop the world i wanna get off with you

sabrina carpenter - bed chem (i know it just came out two days ago but i've listened approximately 5 bazillion times, song of all time, album of all time, artist of all time, HORNY QUEEN 👑🫶)

[traumasurvivorshelpingsurvivors]

hi, i don't know to whom i'm supposed to tell about this. not my parents, they're skeptical over my mental health issues. not my friends, they've seen me as a person who's "doing good" along my school life. when i was at middle school, i always managed go to "favorite, superior class". even though my grades have gone lower on each grade up to now.

plus the fact that i was too caught up with my online life (lmao). i was like abandoning my in real life. from there i guess i've become more sensitive. and i realized that i'm a people pleaser, it rooted because i have abandonment issues and had been emotionally abused.

now, i'm on 11th grade. now i barely pass any math, physics, chem exams while they're my major. i'm seeing my fellow classmates doing great in their school now, either academic or non-academic. they're either straight A's students or be manager in the organizations they're in. while me, i feel like i'm going backwards. i feel so left behind. even after i took tuitions, no improvement. maybe there was time when i did great (like finished all of my tasks??) but sometimes i just don't wanna do it and feel like giving up. i don't know, i try to finish my tasks though. am i doing this right? i feel like I'm just a burden to my parents. they payed for my tuition, do everything for me yet i dissapoint them. people are doing so great, they're improving, why am i like this?

— cheese

thank you<3

Hi Cheese,

I want to say that your worth is not determined by your grades, academic ability or anything like that. I know this doesn’t change how stressful it may feel to worry about what your parents or other people think but I wanted to say it.

Feeling like giving up is a valid feeling and you aren’t alone.

Is there anyone you can reach out to? (A school counsellor, trusted adult, etc) It sounds like this may be overwhelming to you. And that’s so valid. I understand. But you don’t deserve to feel all the negative things you’re feeling. It’s also possible there may be reasons for why things are harder (mental health, disorders, etc) and whatever those reasons are, you’re still valid and worthy.

When it comes to finishing tasks, maybe there’s a strategy that can help you. I’m not trying to diagnose you with anything because I’m not a professional and don’t know anything about you to even have an opinion, but I think that some ADHD strategies online can be beneficial to anyone and you may find some ideas that help you. I, personally, cannot finish tasks without a list and progress sheet that I mark down. I’m not sure why. I do want to repeat that if you can’t finish tasks, it doesn’t take away from your worth. I’m just offering a suggestion. But I also want to say that if you were not able to finish school, you would still be worthy.

As hard as it is, please try not to worry about how “well” other people are doing. You’re you, and that’s enough, regardless of anything else.

April

[guessmonsta]

hello my queen... returned to her castle I see? Could you please do a thing just like the Kuroo one except Kuroo is Bokuto's wingman? I'm so soft for them and you ohmygoodness

You’re adorable and I appreciate you so much. For legal reasons I created a fake cafe called The Gazelle. I’ve used it like twenty times if this is a real place I’m so sorry

It was a very rare occurrence for Bokuto to be awake before noon on a weekend. It was even rarer that he was sprinting across campus to get to Kuroo’s dorm at nine in the morning. Campus custodians gave him weird looks, girls walking to their professors office hours giggled at him, but he just kept running.

Kuroo lived on the eighth floor in the farthest dormitory building from Bokuto’s. He ran up the stairs, skipping two as he went, and once he finally got to Kuroo’s door, he didn’t even bother to knock, he just slammed his fist against the door in one harsh blow.

From inside, he heard Kuroo mutter a quick, “fucking hell,” to his roommate before the door swung open in his face. Kuroo didn’t look amused, and scanned Bokuto up and down before he snorted, covering up his mouth with his hand.

“I’m not gonna judge your lifestyle bro,” Kuroo snorted, “but literally, what the hell.”

“Listen, hear me out,” Bokuto began, still slightly out of breath. “The cute girl who works at The Gazelle has a shift right now.”

“What?” Kuroo stared at him dumbfounded. “How do you know that?”

“Me and, and a couple of my friends from statistics have been taking notes on each time she works. She always works Saturday mornings so-” Kuroo cut him off by laughing again, then stepped out into the hallway and motioned Bokuto to start walking. No matter the situation, no matter how ridiculous it sounded, Kuroo was always readily available for anything Bokuto had in mind.

“So you’ve been stalking this girl?”

“Bro, I’m not stalking her, I’m just admiring her. A-and that admiration has gotten to a kind of unhealthy level to me personally, as a person.”

“Wait, so have you actually ever even talked to this girl?” Kuroo asked, and was faced with Bokuto widening his eyes. “Dude, you’ve gawked at her every single time we’ve gone, and you haven’t even talked to her?”

“I ordered a hot cocoa from her that one time-” Bokuto sighed, “I sound like a simp.”

“Bro, you aren’t a simp. What you are is stupid. How the hell are you going to work together with your statistics friends to recreate some random girls' work schedule but you all have a D in the class?”

“Listen-” Bokuto laughed. “Sora says that she has dyscalculia, and that the rest of us probably have it too. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, Kuroo. Sorry I can’t be a perfect chem major like you.” He teased, socking Kuroo in the arm. Kuroo winced slightly, then punched him back.

“Yeah, you have your strengths for sure.”

“Okay, so I’m probably gonna actually talk to her today.”

“Wow, making big boy moves.” Kuroo laughed, “Where’s this coming from?”

“I can’t tell if it’s fake confidence or adrenaline!” Bokuto shrugged. “Both work!”

Once they entered the cafe, the familiar smell of coffee beans, warmth, and just a tinge of something else hit Bokuto and made him so much more nervous. Why should he be nervous? He was hot. He was sexy. He was 6’2 of big beefy muscle and fat ass, he shouldn’t be afraid of rejection!

But then he saw her. __ hair pulled back into two pigtail french braids as she politely took a stoners order at the counter. He finally got to see her eyes, they were __, pretty __ eyes and the cutest little smile and this cute little way her nose scrunched up when she did-

Kuroo was laughing at him. Kuroo was doubled over Bokuto’s shoulder, absolutely wheezing at him, and Bokuto no longer knew how to feel.

“Bro, not cool!”

“You’re just-” Kuroo started cackling, his signature loud witch cackle, and Bokuto felt his face flush red. The pretty barista made eye contact with him at the sound of Kuroo’s laugh, cocked an eyebrow, then went back to her order. The butterflies promptly returned to his stomach.

“The way you looked at her bro-” Kuroo hiss whispered. “Priceless.” 

“Get your shit together dude, you gotta be my wingman!”

“How the hell am I supposed to do that?” Kuroo managed to choke out between laughs. “This is too much.”

“You’re horrible! I can’t be my own wingman! How am I supposed to hype myself up without looking like a complete jackass-”

Before Bokuto could finish, he realized that they were next up to order. Pretty __ Eyes looked at him and cocked her head, a shy, playful smile crossing her cheeks.

“Hi there! How can I help you today?” She chirped. Awh, even her customer service voice was adorable, he thought to himself. He sighed, trying to suppress a goofy smile on his face. Somehow, Kuroo got it together enough to stammer out, “Hey, hi, yeah, can I get uhhhh… iced latte with oat milk and vanilla flavoring please?” like a dork would.

Bokuto was so caught up thinking about how the prettiest girl in the world was somehow working at a cafe and not walking the runway, and why Kuroo would order something with oat milk out of all things, to even realize that he had to order next. Before he could snap out of his daze, he heard Kuroo laugh.

“Sorry about my friend. When he was born, all his brain cells were converted into sexy instead.”

The barista covered her mouth with her hand to suppress a laugh, and Bokuto felt a hot blush run up his neck. He would’ve punched Kuroo in the arm, but figured he had to keep his cool.

“I-” The barista giggled, not even trying to hold back her laugh. “I mean, yeah, good for him?”

“Oh yeah.” Kuroo leaned his arm up on the counter. There was nobody else behind them, and Kuroo knew what he was doing. “I mean look at the guy. Seventy four inches of pure, raw sex. Do you like volleyball?”

At this point, Pretty __ Eyes was borderline hysterics. Bokuto was starting to think Kuroo was less of a wingman and more of his own, personal jester.

“Yeah, I played in high school.” She responded. Cute, and played volleyball? Bokuto just felt the blush just hotter. 

“Yeah, this guy right here, Owlboy Sexyman, he was the fourth best ace in the country, don’t you know. Fukurodani’s captain.”

“Oh wow, you guys went to Fukurodani?”

“Nah, just him. I’m not even a fragment of how cool Mr. Sexyman here is.” Kuroo pointed at him with his thumb, then shook his head. “And he has a fat ass.”

She laughed, and shook her head.

“And does Owlboy Sexyman want anything today?”

At this point, Bokuto couldn’t hide his blush. He knew if he opened his mouth to start talking, he would end up sounding like a dog toy.

So he just stood there.

Kuroo sighed, and kicked him in the shin, which caused him to jump.

“Seems like he’s just too damn sexy today! No brain cells in sight. He’ll take a large iced hot chocolate with extra whip.”

“Sounds great.” She giggled. “Since you guys literally just made my whole shift, I’m gonna give you twenty percent off today.”

“Thank you, you’re a doll.”

When they stepped aside to pay for their drinks, Bokuto burst out laughing. Kuroo looked down at him, and choked back another cackle.

“Did you like what I did there?”

“You-” Bokuto snorted, “Are so fucking stupid.”

“Ah, it’s my specialty.”

“That definitely did not work at all. If anything, she probably likes you from that whole show you put on.”

“Nah, she didn’t look interested in me. Worst case scenario, at least we made a pretty girl laugh at your expense!”

“Yeah, I guess.” Bokuto shrugged.

“Iced latte for Kuroo!” Pretty __ Eyes called out, then handed the drink gingerly over to him. He took a dramatic sip, then sighed.

“Hits the spot.”

“How the heck do they even… milk an oat.” Bokuto muttered, and Kuroo shrugged.

“I dunno. How do they milk almonds?”

“Do almonds have boobs?” Bokuto asked, a little bit too loud.

“Iced hot chocolate for Owlboy Sexyman!”

The moment she announced this, Bokuto wheezed, and Kuroo spit his coffee out in the most violent, dramatic, and cartoonish way possible. Bokuto didn’t know whether or not to keep laughing, or start crying. Kuroo had iced coffee dribbling down his neck like a toddler, but even he himself couldn’t stop laughing.

Bokuto looked up to see Pretty __ Eyes hunched over the serving station convulsing as well. Bokuto walked over to her, and bowed his head in shame, all while laughing.

“I am so-”

“Who the hell are you two!” She stammered between giggles. Bokuto noticed her eyes were brighter when she laughed. He had managed to stop laughing but the smile on his face only grew. She was beautiful and he had no idea how to handle it.

“I am so, so sorry.”

“Don’t worry.” She shook her head. “Your friend has to clean that up, because I’m definitely not going to.”

“He will, he will. “Bokuto looked back over at Kuroo, who was still laughing to himself hysterically, his face buried in his hands. “I promise we’re not on drugs.” 

“Hey, it’s college. No judgement.” She smiled, Her fingertips brushed his as she handed him his drink. He noticed that she had scribbled her number on the side of the cup, and the dying blush on his face returned. His mouth gaped a little bit, then he looked back up at her.

“My name is not actually Owlboy Sexyman.”

“I would hope not.” She smiled. “I’m __, by the way.”

“I’m Bokuto.”

“Bokuto.” She repeated, then smiled. “We should hang out sometime. I don’t know many other people around here who play volleyball.”

“Oh, wow, I-” Bokuto nodded and smiled, looking a little bit dumb as he did. “That’s awesome! That’s great! That’s great.”

“See you around then?” She cocked her head. Bokuto nodded a little bit too aggressively.

“I’ll see you around!”

__ shot him one last smile before she turned around and walked back to the order counter. Bokuto sighed a deep sigh, and sat back down next to Kuroo, whose shirt was covered in spit and coffee.

“Dude, you did it.”

Kuroo looked up at him from his hands, and smiled.

“Shit, I would hope so, because this oat milk is fucking disgusting.”

[fangirlingnerdhc]

I posted 552 times in 2021

7 posts created (1%)

545 posts reblogged (99%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 77.9 posts.

I added 29 tags in 2021

#helens homemade content - 5 posts

#hmc - 4 posts

#howl pendragon - 4 posts

#hmc book - 3 posts

#diana wynne jones - 3 posts

#sophie hatter - 3 posts

#howls moving castle - 2 posts

#howl's moving castle - 2 posts

#howell jenkins - 2 posts

#marvel - 1 posts

Longest Tag: 56 characters

#i did easy for 10 minutes and a creeper blew up my house

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Me like 3 months ago: I'm ok with getting rid of Netflix im not using it im not even that interested in shadow and bone anymore

Me right now: oh my god im gonna go broke

6 notes • Posted 2021-02-26 20:35:59 GMT

#4

Zelda is apparently yeeted to hell in botw 2 meanwhile my dumbass was hoping to play as her so mark me down as disappointed

27 notes • Posted 2021-06-16 00:39:02 GMT

#3

Ok so I've got an arcana modern college AU

Asra: freshman chemistry major (because chemistry is practically magic) that your apprentice meets at the work study job in the college bookshop. Your boss is known as the Magician because he's a senior chem major who learned how to make drugs or something idk. Asras mom was a physical therapist and dad was an engineer and thats their connection to lucios arm and maybe they are immigrants who lucio got deported or something? Too real? Idk

Muriel: Asra's roommate for obvious reasons. On the football team (b/c that's practically gladiators right?) because its the only way he can pay for college. He's a veterinary science major i think.

Julian: probably a senior or maybe post-grad, maybe this university has a med school attached? Idk but he's studying medicine and he works at the Healthcare center but you see him in the campus Cafe chugging coffee late at night

Portia: double major in culinary science and anthropology or archeology or something. She works in the campus Cafe and you see her harassing julian.

Nadia: the president of the college who graduated from the school and returned after some time to try and fix its issues. Mostly unchanged tbh

Lucio: head of athletics. Blackmails people like muriel into joining with scholarships because the teams SUCK and he promised the trustees he would fix it, his job is on the line. Tying in his death might be like a demotion to janitor or something idk yet. Used to be like a pro football player and got his arm destroyed in a car crash after partying and got the prosthetic and the department head job from his benefactor (devil obvi). Morga is a famous athlete who pushed lucio to greatness.

Courtiers: board of trustees or like the deans of the school. Still very unhelpful.

Major arcana: department heads? Id have to do a little more research but like the star gives me communications department vibes.

34 notes • Posted 2021-04-09 22:48:35 GMT

#2

I have not watched the falcon and the winter soldier (dont have disney plus, did not have time to find free online) BUT I did have a dream last night where the series ended with Sam and Bucky holding hands in a very non-platonic way and I gotta say I was disappointed when Google told me this was untrue.

41 notes • Posted 2021-08-19 22:30:35 GMT

#1

DC, every time they're drawing Nightwing/ Dick Grayson for anything:

66 notes • Posted 2021-10-17 19:02:46 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[3inghao]

I'm so glad to see you are happy and back. I don't wanna like add any stress in anyway but could you tell me what engineering classes are like? Cause im thinking of looking into environmental engineering so id just like to know from an insiders view.. sorry if this is strange.

no this isn’t strange at all! So my college doesn’t have environmental engineering, and I’m in software engineering which is going to be quiet different but like I’m only ever around other types of engineers so I can try my best to give you advice..get ready for an essay. 

Assuming you haven’t started college yet, it actually might be a good idea to start your major as an undecided engineer. I say that because a LOT of engineers switch types of engineering after the first year, so it would keep your options more open but still centered around engineering. If your school doesn’t have that as an option, that’s alright because engineers all take practically the same classes the first year anyway. If you are pretty sure you want to be an engineer but are just unsure on what type of engineering I would definitely just go in as an environmental engineer instead of completely undecided (unless it’s undecided engineer) because you’ll be taking the same classes as all the other engineers anyways and that’s better than taking random classes that won’t be related to an engineering major. And I definitely wouldn’t sweat trying to figure out what kind of engineer you want to be before school starts..like I was between software engineering and chemical engineering but two weeks into chemistry I realized I never want to look at a periodic table ever EVER again. Like I don’t know how to explain it because it took me so long to realize I wanted to be an engineer and what I wanted to do with my life while I was in high school, but once you come to college it becomes really obvious real quick. One of my good friends, one week in, already decided she was changing her major. Another friend, half the semester in, decided she wants to do a different type of engineering. Like it won’t make sense till you’re there, but you will know very quickly whether environmental engineering is your thing! 

As far as classes go, all my classes are some kind of STEM related class. It can kind of be difficult at times, and I would definitely not take very many credit hours your first semester of freshman year. Because it takes ADJUSTING getting used to only be learning calculus and chemistry and programming all day versus high school where you had a lot of different subjects. Like for sure don’t take that many credit hours..just don’t. I assume if you’re interested in environmental engineering, then you like science which is gonna be v v v helpful. I have to take three natural science classes, but software engineering and science are like so god damn unrelated it hurts my soul. I’m never gonna need to know chemistry but i have to take it for some reason!!! nevermind my angst about science because if you like science than you’ll be fine! Just be prepared for 2-3 hour science labs and your lectures for science classes, for the most part, are going to be very big. 

ALSO WATCH TF OUT FOR SCIENCE CLASSES BC THEY ARE NOT LIKE HIGH SCHOOL CLASSES like I just wish someone had told me..”adrian u may have thought high school chem was easy but this shiz ain’t the same so read the god damn book and start studying at least a week and a half before the test” then I might not have gotten such a low score on the first exam lololol but honestly I’m adjusting so it takes time. I would just make sure you stay on top of your shiz in science classes and use the resources available to you and start studying EARLY. Also even if your like oh this is review from high school..still make sure you spend quality time studying otherwise you will regret it…this is from experience. 

As far as math class, I think they are very bearable. Idk what grade you are in but if you can I would try and go to the highest level math class your high school offers. For me, it was honors AP Calculus which is Calc 1 and Calc 2. This will really help set the foundation for your calc skills for college because you’ll have to go through calc 1, calc 2, and calc 3 and the probably differential equations and linear algebra. But having taken some sort of calculus in high school made what I’m doing now SO much more bearable, and I even got 100 on the first exam! My tips for math classes is always show up to the lectures, do AT LEAST half the homework assignment (bc i like never did math homework in high school), and try to go to your teachers office hours often and just ask a couple random homework questions because having the teacher who knows what they’re doing working through a problem with you one on one is gonna really save you on the quizzes (esp bc the teacher knows whats on them). I really enjoy my math class (i went straight into calc 3 from high school), but even if you start at calc 1 again having taken your high schools calc class will be so so so helpful (AP science classes on the other hand?? didn’t take any nah worth it lol).

I think that’s a decent amount of adivce? feel free to send another ask if you have like more specific questions! i love being an engineer I feel like I made the right decision even tho i dislike science courses lol i get free printing at my school for bein an engineer it’s pretty sweet but just know….there’s a reason STEM majors get paid more after college..bc this shiz isn’t a walk in the park and there’s a lot of work, but if you’re passionate about it you’ll excel! 

[brandoncarlo]

Hey, im a pretty new follower but i think i saw somewhere that you are a psych major? (If I'm wrong ignore me) How do you deal with people acting like you are stupid or not doing a real subject because you do psych. I get people, usually men, talking down to me constantly and acting like im some silly girl trying to pretend she's smart and honestly im sick of it. Usually im pretty thick skinned but im just super tired of it.

I mean obviously those are just people who want to feel superior to you and won’t actually listen to reason. idk i guess i don’t run into those types of people a lot??? I do have medical and bio majors try to tell me they don’t believe certain disorders really exist, especially dissociative ones. but usually i try to explain to them that it’s because mental health issues are hard for anyone who doesn’t have them to understand. I guess idk. Do the same thing back to them like “Oh, chemistry, that’s so cute, you know i took a chem class in high school and was pretty easy so I decided to challenge myself” lmao

[realtalk-princeton]

@Flounder what are your thoughts on ISC? I'm a prefrosh interested in natural/physical sciences research and currently want to major in PHY, but I wanted to take ISC to as a sort of survey to see what I'd like to study in STEM for real. Previously on the blog I've learned that it's really hard, physics/math heavy (which I'm fine with), and Nick dropped out of it, and I wanted to hear another opinion.

Response from Flounder:

Hey! Sry for the delay, i didn’t see this in the inbox at first, and then had to type out something long lol.

Short answer: do take!!!

Long, somewhat disjointed list of reasons:

ISC really takes student feedback seriously. My class wanted expanded + improved chem coverage and better support for ISC-specific COS, and the current ISC class generally thinks they’ve done a good job of changing the class based on our feedback. Profs are also responsive to student needs, and will offer additional help / push back deadlines if the class asks nicely and has a good reason.

Along the same lines, the profs and preceptors really want to be there, and are invested in your success. Also fun fact, Shaevitz is apparently a minesweeper champ.

ISC literally changed my life. I came in to Pton as an astro major, and ISC introduced me to computational biology. I wouldn’t have discovered this interdisciplinary path if not for ISC.

The strong quantitative background that ISC provides is useful for basically everyone.

It is absolutely possible to do ISC and have a life.

ISC labs are, in my opinion, so much better than typical intro science labs. Most intro science labs are a bit above high school science, but ISC labs are a taste of real research. You’ll finish the class with a respectable background in image analysis and MATLAB.

There’s a huge diversity of majors - my isc class has cos, physics (probably the largest contingent), math, chem, mol, neuro, eeb, woody woo, english, and soc and probably more I forgot.

Undoubtedly, the best part of ISC is the people. Everyone in my ISC class, and all the current ISC frosh, are such wonderful, smart, altruistic genuine human beings, and ISC is essentially automatic friendship. We still get group meals :)

Definitely give ISC a shot! it’s absolutely worth your time. i loved ISC and would take the class again in a heartbeat. That said, it’s not for everyone, which is why it’s super easy to try the class, and then drop and enroll in 2 other courses which better fit your needs. Physics is popular among ISCers. So there’s no harm in testing the waters - I really encourage you to go for it!