poly(3,4-ethyldioxythiophene), anyone?
I'm pretty good at memorizing things... but those skills only go so far. For instance, whenever i see a chemical name that has more than 2 parts to it, my eyes tend to glaze over and my brain skips it. Kinda like when you're reading a fantasy/sci-fi novel, and if you're lazy at the time, you just tend to skip over a main character's (non-human) unique and unpronounceable name. I've read whole books without actually pronouncing characters' names in my head... it's more of a visual recognition... then when by chance i actually examine the name, it's usually "Wha...?" Particularly when there are apostrophes involved.I suppose that knowing the acronym (and oh do chems love their acronyms) should help me memorize those long names, but it's just so much effort! They'd better have the name in the question... or else... (dun dun dun... oh who am I kidding, or else: i'll have a fun time trying to recall things or make things up).
The same thing happens when i look at chemical reactions. I start employing long lost shape memory skills: "Looks like a stop sign, on a box... but the line (double bond) is only on this side of the box... and then... there are these funny little ears on the stop sign... like Mickey Mouse... then in the next step... the box gets unfolded... "
As if that wasn't enough of a stretch for my brain, there are still the catalysts to be written in above those stupid arrows.
Every now and then i get fed up with how ridiculous this all is, and i know i'm memorizing a helluva lotta stuff that won't end up getting tested, but you still have to be prepared... bah!
Sometimes I say that i should've gone into pure chem instead of engsci hell... BUT LOOK at the SHIT they have to do... and it is just that, SHIT - c'mon you're going to just look this stuff up in a book anyways, why not test some real understanding, fucktards, instead of looking for key words and being blind to synonyms (cuz apparently "stiff" is not the same thing as "rigid", only it is, and then when approached about it, they award 3/5 marks for putting one instead of the other, which implies that those words are only synonyms to the degree of 3/5 - to borrow an example from a fellow nano).
And as if it hasn't already been enough of a blast studying for this annoying course, the exam is in one of those mysterious artsci places that i will have to hunt for tomorrow. I hate those places... dammit give me BA or GB or SF or even HA! AND it's at a weird time... 7 - 9pm... making me miss 24! Oh the atrocities.
posted by starfire @ 9:29 PM
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