I am currently in my second semester of college, and because I am an aspiring biology major and medical student, I must endure not only chemistry classes, but also chemistry labs. Now, don't get me wrong, I love science and I love chemistry. I think it's an incredibly interesting subject and I agree that lab work is necessary to understand concepts that would otherwise be very difficult to describe. However, without fail, that single-credit-hour lab is the single worst part of my week. In fact, I'd probably be a chemistry major if thoughts of my 101 and 102 labs didn't give me night terrors.
This, my friends, is what it's like to take a general chemistry lab:
At the beginning of every semester, you are tested on the most ridiculous lab safety video in existence.
Yes, the real video is even more ridiculous than the above image. If you doubt my assessment, just imagine a student attempting to undress to use the safety shower while his creepy lab partner stands behind him and stares as he tries to wash chemicals off his naked body. Yeah. I told you so.
You have to be wearing goggles and a lab coat at all times while in the lab ... even if you're just filling out paperwork.
I do realize that this rule is for our safety, and even though we aren't messing with dangerous chemicals, that doesn't mean there isn't residue from other labs all over the room. I get this. However, I still feel ridiculous.
Your goggles fog up within five seconds of putting them on.
And you're not even allowed to clean them off, because that would involve a) taking them off in the lab, and b) touching them with your possibly contaminated hands.
You think you'll be doing cool experiments like these:
But really you're just spending two hours boiling water.
I feel you, Hermione.
The pre-labs are more time consuming than the actual lab.
Oh, describe the experimental setup, procedure, mathematical analyses, and graphical analyses in your own words without writing the experiment step-by-step or copying anything directly from the lab manual? And find all of the hazard information, safety tips, and molecular structure for nine chemicals? And then hand-write a three-page bibliography? Sure! This should only take me 10 hours! I don't have other classes ... like actual chemistry.
And don't get me started on the lab reports.
One time I worked on the lab report for an hour every day for three days and I still ended up pulling an all-nighter to finish it before the deadline.
It's really hard to justify spending all this time on this class when it's only one credit hour.
I mean, couldn't I be using Saturday and Sunday to be studying for my three-credit-hour classes like calculus, biology, French, English, and *cough* chemistry. I mean, if I don't have time to grasp the original concepts, is a lab really going to help?
No matter how much time you spent on the lab, your final grade can still be a toss-up because of the dreaded bell curve.
Oh chemistry gods, please do me a favor and give me at least a C so that I don't have to retake this one-credit-hour class.
