This has been a very eventful week. From the 4 day weekend to the birthday of Sheldon and the first hockey game of the semester Oswego has had a lot to buzz about. The four day weekend for me was especially nice giving me a few days to catch my breath from all the work and monotony of my schedule. I personally love not having to wake up at 8 Thursday and Friday for class and sleeping in so it was especially nice. I had time to review material that I was unsure about and since I didn’t have any lab reports to do time to sleep.
Since I finished my Pchem lab fairly early I also had time to enjoy the birthday of SUNY Oswego’s founder Edward A. Sheldon. This was on the 4th in the quad. There was free food including BBQ pulled chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, cup cakes, and apple cider which was enough to attract most students, not just the ones who bleed green and yellow. There was a group picture taken by the lagoon after which we sang happy birthday to Sheldon and I was off to Pchem lecture. All in all it was a fun week but its back to being tethered to my books and Snygg.

                With all my classes in full swing it hardly feels like it hardly feels like summer break even happened. Even the Oswego weather seems to have forgotten unleashing a small cold front to remind people that summer is over. Though the cold has been bad the 1-2 punch that comes with having physical Chem lab and analytical lab the same day has me reeling. Although it hasn’t come close to knocking me down.

                Chemistry Club however is doing very well having our liquid nitrogen ice cream social last Friday. It was a fun time to meet some of the newer chemistry majors, and connect with faculty. My fellow officers and I mixed the milk and cream with the chocolate and strawberry toppings adding the liquid nitrogen ever so slowly. We then played chemistry jeopardy. There were a team of most of the officers and two other teams; the officers, of course, were able to make a comeback victory against the other teams winning beaker mugs! Though the other teams lost I’m sure that they had fun and will try again next year. We also set up an official general ChemClub meeting time and day; so the year is off to an auspicious start.

               The summer has come and gone and now it’s back to the work maelstrom. With three upper division chemistry classes the training wheels are officially off my classes. Though I have made it past the gate keeper of the chemistry major (organic chemistry) it will be this semester more than any other that will determine if my career in chemistry, my future as a molecular architect, and my skills in chemical investigations will be lofted to detective status or will be taking a long, slow decent into the river Styx. All the math, physics, chemistry, and research skills I have gained throughout my two years will be tested. However, I am optimistic that I can succeed if I can tighten my belt and head boldly into the maelstrom.

               My third year will push my analytical skills and physical understanding of the world to new bounds. It will test my leadership skills and will at times gauche at my time management. This is the time when I will earn all the “Oh’s” and “Ah’s” that I get when I tell people that I’m a chemistry major. These first few days have shown me just how intensive the phrases “junior chemistry major” and “Chem Club president” will be and just how ready I am.

             It was a really full week due to all the presentations at Quest. All in all I think I went to about 12 presentations and got a thorough work out running back and forth from Lanigan to the Campus Center. For those of you who don’t know Quest is the time of year when students from all departments come together to present there research that they have been conducting for the year. A time to learn something new or if your presenting frantically try to organise your research into a presentable Power Point or poster.

             I also represented Chem Club this weekend in an event for matriculating freshmen. We talked about all the thing Chem club does, why its so great. Although we only got 5 people to stop by I’m sure we hooked them good, and we’ll have Chem Club ascending to greater and greater things.

             Its been an exciting week here in OZ. With things like AmeriCorps coming to campus, and the leadership conferences, and of course most notably the black out. On Thursday we experienced a campus wide black out. It was a tence time as everyone grabbed there flash light and met up with friends. People walked in droves from one side of campus to another trying to get back to their dorms or just getting back to their rooms. Though the power was only out for a few hours it made everyone realize what they would need in case of a more serious power outage. Things like flash lights, batteries, food that doesn’t need to be microwaved or refrigerated, and a can opener.

         Its been a while since I last posted so I’ll make a long story short. Spring brake came and went really fast but I got the brake I needed to get back into the flow of things even if it wasn’t right off the bat. Some more of my classes started after brake so I have a little more work but everything’s going well.

          I even participated in a science day for local area high schools representing Chemistry Club. I recruited the presenters, carried out the demonstrations, and made the chemistry questions for the jeopardy game the high schoolers played.

          I also applied for an internship at W.R. Grace a chemical company that accepts a chemistry and a business major from Oswego for the summer. It is just one of the many opportunities available in the chemistry department. There was also a paid internship in Brazil for about 15 students, and a environmental research internship.  Not to mention the other non-chemistry related internships around campus  .

             Ah spring brake is almost here, and though Oswego’s weather is completely bipolar and there is a onslaught of exams and papers due this week I can’t help but feel excited for a full week off from classes. I have been keeping up pretty well with all my classes so there is nothing that I’m too worried about but this time of year is always a little tense since you don’t really know what your professors are expecting of you quite yet. But all in all it should be an ok week.

             Sorry I didn’t post this weekend but didn’t really have time, I was enjoying my 20th birthday!!! Didn’t get much work done either so probably going to be up to my ears in it but it was worth it (I think).

             Uh, It’s been along week. However, after my gauntlet of back to back quiz, exam and quiz again on friday I’m feeling a little drained. I’ve been thinking a lot about grad school too, thinking about how hard I try in all my classes with the idea of it in mind. I think of how I’m overloading on mostly gen-eds(general educational requirements), and as I reflect on a few careless mistakes I made on my Organic quiz I cant help but think that I’m becoming more of a jack of all trades than a master of one. Though I know why we have gen-eds I cant help but think how much more time I would have for chemistry classes or other classes that I would be interested in. Though these classes may seem like a leisurely task to complete for a student who’s major is ~36 credits, it is however like trying to juggle chain saws for science majors with 70+ credits. Though I think it’s a little excessive I guess there is always grad school to be a better chemist.

             Got a lot done this week started resumed research and tutoring,I read untold hours of history (two classes), and last but not least I went to Oswego’s own 36 hour film festival. For clarification the films didn’t last 36 hours but the competitors had only 36 hours to make an approximately 10 minuet film. Even with their coursework and varying schedules they all managed to create some amazing films. Though I was a little sceptical at first I was quickly converted into a fan after the first movie. Something about having past pretty much all of the actors in the halls and seeing the familiar campus locals made the films a lot more intriguing. The event itself had popcorn, candy, kids kicking the back of  peoples seats, everything a movie go-er would come to expect. I definitely think that it is an event that everyone should go to at least once.