(Presented winter ’17)…I wanted to end this hard science class on a non-science theme and explain why my website has the title “acrochem.” This stems from my belief that success is achieved through hard-work, patience, and balance. The hard work tends to be the obvious part. It’s the patience and balance that are less talked about in an academic setting. Personally, I’ve found balance by pursuing a variety of interests to keep myself from getting bored. Partner acrobatics and chemistry are two of those interests, hence “acrochem.” Acrochemistry is a performance piece where we act out chemical reactions or processes through physical movements (*see Acrochemistry video at the bottom of this page). Unfortunately, my acro partners all work during the day. Instead, I’m showing you a project my partner Rebecca and I worked on this past winter (*video above).
What you see in the video is the product of hard work, patience, and balance. The physical movements were practiced with this partner for over a year and I had practiced them at least 3 years before that with other members of the community. The videos took 2 weeks to shoot and the video editing another month after that. What you don’t see in the video is the number of times that we fell and failed. Typically we fall with smiles and laughter but frustration is not uncommon. Learning partner acrobatics is not unlike learning chemistry. It’s challenging and takes time. But more importantly, it’s just freakin’ fun!
You’re not just learning organic chemistry in my class. Whether you noticed it or not, you’re learning something incredibly valuable: how to be patient with yourself as you’re putting in the hard work to learn something new. My jiu jitsu coach used to say “if you want to get really good at something, you have to be ok with being kind of bad at it for a while.” That’s what I mean by patience. The patience is not only with myself but with my partners and community. It’s about accepting help from others and understanding that you’re not supposed to get it right away or maybe never even get it on your own. It’s about loving your level.
Balance is not only physical but also mental. It’s taking care of yourself physically and mentally – taking breaks – mixing it up – even making sleep a priority! It’s the balance between my career and my life – the balance between chemistry and acro! It’s training hard but also taking time to relax, to spend time with my husband, with my puppy.
There’s no set way of finding your version of hard work, patience, and balance. Everyone has their own way and it takes time to find it. You become a unique individual by pursuing interests that are your own instead of what other people say you’re supposed to do.
I have friends that live in their vans, work in coffee shops, and slack line all day. They are just as happy as my friends with Ph.D.’s. The point is you’re not doing this for anyone else so why hold yourself to their standards? It is so easy to compare yourself to other people and ask yourself “is that why I’m supposed to do?” But instead, ask yourself what’s going to make you happy. If you’re in school to be a doctor because you always wanted to be a doctor, ask yourself why. Question it everyday until you come up with real, concrete reasons. It’s best if these reasons are your own. Maybe you decide you’d rather do something else. That’s fine. I want you to know that you can do anything you want with your life. It’s your path, no one else’s. I feel like I’ve found my path, at least for now, and that could very well change.
To most people, success is money or status, but I disagree. You get to define “success.” You can be successful right now if you believe it to be true. You are not defined by one letter or by all the letters on your transcript even. I can’t tell you how many students come to me disappointed with a C or B on an exam. I give them a high five in congratulations because I know what an achievement that is in organic chemistry. They are surprised.
When I took organic chemistry as an undergrad, I often felt like everyone else understood it better than me and learned it faster. I remember the mixed feelings of excitement when all’s going according to plan and disappointment when nothing goes my way. It’s not always easy but as my yoga teacher used to say “it’s only through struggle do we cultivate strength.”
There’s so much more I want to share but instead I’ll wrap it up and put the focus back on you. Thank you for listening, for your attention, for your head nods, and smiles. They really matter. Thank you for your patience, especially on the days I’m tired and make more mistakes than usual. Thank you for understanding that I’m a person too. Thank you for your hard work and dedication. Thank you for showing up, for at least pretending like it matters. Because it does, at least to me. You matter. You are why I get up in front of the classroom. I’m always trying to do better, to learn from you so please take the time to fill out the instructor evaluations in a kind a constructive manner. Thank you again for a wonderful quarter, I wish you the best of luck on the final, and I’m sure I’ll see you again soon!
AcroChemistry, Presented Winter ’15…