My Trusty Equipment

My Trusty Equipment

Hello Humans! Today I thought I would be a nerd (wait, when am I not a nerd?) and talk about my favorite things I use to study and learn science.

I actually bought a lab-coat last year. Not because I needed one, but because I wanted to have one. I’ve actually never used it. I hung it on my coat-rack, and now it’s hung in my closet. Whenever I’m feeling down, I look at it, and imagine that one day, I will have my name embroidered onto it, right next to BioChemical Engineer and Ph. D. It motivates me to keep going and keep learning and keep trying.

Another thing that I have, that I never really use, but it keeps me motivated, is my beaker. Yes, I have a beaker, an erlenmeyer flask, and a graduated cylinder on my shelf. I've never used them, but every time I see them, I get excited, because I want to use them, or ones that are very similar to them, in the lab. I can't wait until College starts in a week, and I can again, use them in a lab.

I’ve always been the kind to be my own person. This is why I have safety goggles that are green and blue. Green is my first favorite color, with blue being my second. It makes me happy in the lab doing the experiment, and happy at a desk when doing the math. My science goggles were actually made for kids, but the reviews were good enough online that I got them for a college science lab, and I haven’t been disappointed. They fit me well, because I’m still a kid a heart.

I’ve trusted my calculator with my future many, many, many times. My favorite TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition Calculator has been with me since my Sophomore year in High School. I’ve trusted it’s math skills to help me with everything from adding 2+2 to solving derivatives of x-position graphs. A lot of people in my Chemistry class last year had newer versions of my calculator, but like my 2003 Toyota Camry, I liked the old one better. It has more character and style. My calculator is also loud like me. Whether it’s typing a lab report, pushing buttons on my calculator, or even writing down notes, I can be quite loud in a quiet classroom during a final.

Colorful Pens are my jam. I remember one of the worst parts of High School was that I had to use pencil for all of my AP Calculus assignments, and for those of you who know what my Sr. year of High School was like, that’s saying a lot. I still wrote all of my notes in pen, though. If I remember right, my teacher was nice enough to let me use pen on the class final. I love the bright blue, green, and purple color of the pen ink. It lets me distinguish between dates the notes were written, and just makes me happier while reading them. I also like pen better than pencils because if you make a mistake, you just cross it out, and continue on. People will argue that this takes up way too much space, but have you seen my handwriting? It already takes up twice as much space as anyone else, so the pen fits me, again. Also, there have been countless times where erasing my work would have put me in a situation on a timed test, where I would have had to start the problem all over, whereas, just crossing it out in pen has made me able to still see my past work, and then just fix my mistakes. I also am left handed, so anything I write with smears, and I’d rather have a colorful side of my hand, than a grey and shiny side of my hand.

Something that have I’ve always gone back and forth over is my glasses. Last year, I didn’t wear my glasses because 1. I don’t really need them to see, it’s just that I need them to see things that are far away, and 2. Because they made me self-conscious. Today, however, I wear my glasses as a proud part of myself. They make my outfit whole as a Scientist. Because which good scientist isn’t a little bit blind? And, plus, I can see more detail in the world around me with them on, and we all know that I love that.

What is a student without their textbooks? I actually love my textbooks. Well, my Chemistry and Physics textbooks, the Biology one was a waste of money, and the Sociology only opened once, and that was because the Professor allowed us to use it on the online test. I mark up my textbooks, and make sure that they’re in good condition.

YOUTUBE! Yes, YouTube is good for things other than watching people play games. There are so many different educational videos. One of my favorite is called “Crash Course.” This channel helped me understand the difficult topics in Chemistry and was a good review for my Biology Finals. They cover many other topics besides science. Also, my recent favorite Curiosity Stream is another great source for learning about science and history. They go into deep topics like the Quantum World and how it relates to Biology. That one literally blew my mind.

Everyone who knows me well knows that music is important to me. I’ve always studied or done homework with my headphones on. It helps me think through problems as they come up. I really hope my future lab has speakers in it, so I can play my music while working.

Lastly, what would a Chemist be without their Periodic Table of Elements? They’d be nothing. I use my Periodic Table more times than I can count in a day. I even found myself, during the summer, looking at it out of habit from the school year. I’m so glad that I got to make my own, too. I got to put all the information I wanted on them, and make it the colors I wanted, and plus, I got to know the Periodic Table a lot better than before.

The tools I use to study and learn science are very near and dear to my heart. I love them all very much, and keep them as closest to me as possible. I mean, one is literally hanging on the wall by my bed. If you want to learn science, hopefully at least one of these tools will help you or inspire you. Stay wild, flower child.