I rather enjoy demonstrating, especially to 1st years. It’s hard work, but there’s so much to teach them. Not like the second years who think that they know what’s going on, or the third years that mostly do know what’s going on…

Today’s sport: “annotating” their labcoats. In my undergrad days, everybody’s lab coat was already covered with scrawls by this point in the first year, so for tradition’s sake, I thought that this lot should be too.

So now there are a selection of labcoats proclaiming love for Chemical weapons, southampton (and luton and watford and coventry), a McChemist, A filthy Sergeant,¹ and an enigmatic “A-Ha!”.²

I really like the way that it’s easy to meet people³ on your course in chemistry. I did a year of physucks before swapping, and knew hardly anyone there. I knew everyone on my chemistry year by the end of the first year. It’s the labs. A shared trauma, exacerbated by nutters like me demonstrating :-)

So. It’s been fun. I don’t think I’ll be able to do any more demonstrating this year (and hence, probably ever) – that whole PhD thing getting in the way. Might try and get on the 3rd year organometallics though. Depends on how my catalysts treat me I guess.

<sub>1. But not Jam/Jan, who’s already taken.
2. I realised after the event that “A-Ha!” might not be particularly appropriate given her b/f’s name. Ooops.
3. And more… Chemistry is probably the most incestuous subject at Warwick. And everybody knows everything that’s going on.</sub>