A few days ago, I cleared out the massive post-nuclear junkyard that is my book cupboard. A-Levels is over, and university beckons, so I wanted to chuck out my old stuff to make way for what lies ahead. Thus I began sorting out what I wanted to keep for future reference from what could be sold off or sent for recycling. For some, the action of throwing books out is a joyful one. I can just imagine the more creative ones dousing their books in kerosene and torching the lot. But while this task was definitely liberating, to my surprise it also got me quite emotional. Those who have spoken to me recently know that I've decided to pursue a degree in accounting and finance, so obviously I wouldn't be needing my science books and notes anymore. Yet, I didn't have the heart to throw them away. It stirred something in me and made me think.
I realised how much I'll miss studying science. I'll miss the facts and laws and theories that explain why the world is the way it is. I'll miss the mind-blowing physics formulas and the tongue-twisting chemical names (think 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine).
I'll probably miss the practicals the most. I still remember my delight upon finding out that in college each student gets a lockerful of their own things and will perform experiments individually, as opposed to high school where we either worked in groups or only watched as the teacher demonstrated. I'll miss wearing my white labcoat, now stained with chemical splotches, that made me look like a doctor/mad scientist. I'll miss going into the laboratory each week and tinkering around with an array of extremely expensive and cool-looking apparatus. I'll miss the feeling of apprehension and anticipation I felt before starting each of the many challenging and crazy experiments thrown at us.
I'll miss the terribly fragile glassware that my class was so prone to breaking. I'll miss the rack of test tubes filled with solutions and precipitates so vibrantly colourful, a friend once compared them to an eyeshadow palette. I'll miss the ridiculous electrical circuits with their wires and minute components that caused us so much grief because they never seemed to work, the multimeters that rarely gave us the readings we needed. I'll even miss the repetitive measurement and timing experiments that required steady hands, sharp eyes and limitless patience, which I lacked. I'll miss using scientific lingo like "fractional distillation" and "electromagnetic induction". I'll miss the sense of accomplishment I felt everytime my experiment was successful, the jubilation whenever I got the right results. And believe it or not, I'll miss my Chemistry lecturer, Mr Yeap, who'd give a loud exaggerated sigh whenever we broke something and laughed in our faces whenever an experiment bombed because we didn't listen to him.
Many friends of mine are also leaving pure science behind to pursue social science degrees like economics. I don't know if they feel the same way. For me, there will be times when I take out that good ol' labcoat and put it on for memories' sake. But right now, I have to focus on my future, on this new unfamiliar path, and excel at my chosen field.
So, at long last, I bid farewell to the scientist in me.
I realised how much I'll miss studying science. I'll miss the facts and laws and theories that explain why the world is the way it is. I'll miss the mind-blowing physics formulas and the tongue-twisting chemical names (think 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine).
I'll probably miss the practicals the most. I still remember my delight upon finding out that in college each student gets a lockerful of their own things and will perform experiments individually, as opposed to high school where we either worked in groups or only watched as the teacher demonstrated. I'll miss wearing my white labcoat, now stained with chemical splotches, that made me look like a doctor/mad scientist. I'll miss going into the laboratory each week and tinkering around with an array of extremely expensive and cool-looking apparatus. I'll miss the feeling of apprehension and anticipation I felt before starting each of the many challenging and crazy experiments thrown at us.
I'll miss the terribly fragile glassware that my class was so prone to breaking. I'll miss the rack of test tubes filled with solutions and precipitates so vibrantly colourful, a friend once compared them to an eyeshadow palette. I'll miss the ridiculous electrical circuits with their wires and minute components that caused us so much grief because they never seemed to work, the multimeters that rarely gave us the readings we needed. I'll even miss the repetitive measurement and timing experiments that required steady hands, sharp eyes and limitless patience, which I lacked. I'll miss using scientific lingo like "fractional distillation" and "electromagnetic induction". I'll miss the sense of accomplishment I felt everytime my experiment was successful, the jubilation whenever I got the right results. And believe it or not, I'll miss my Chemistry lecturer, Mr Yeap, who'd give a loud exaggerated sigh whenever we broke something and laughed in our faces whenever an experiment bombed because we didn't listen to him.
Many friends of mine are also leaving pure science behind to pursue social science degrees like economics. I don't know if they feel the same way. For me, there will be times when I take out that good ol' labcoat and put it on for memories' sake. But right now, I have to focus on my future, on this new unfamiliar path, and excel at my chosen field.
So, at long last, I bid farewell to the scientist in me.
2 comments:
So you're definitely going with Accounting and Finance? Well, I'm sure you'll have fun doing that as well (I mean like you said, it's something new, which is always a LITTLE interesting, no?). And aside from those taking the pure sciences, I doubt many of the other courses offers one a chance to mess around with chemicals and stuff, at least not like in college anyway.
P.S.: Just to compare lab coat stains, does yours also have an unhealthily high dose of potassium permanganate (or one of its reduced forms)? ;)
Haha yes Kenn, my coat does have brown blotches that I believe are potassium manganate (VII), though I doubt mine has as much as yours =P
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