Double helix enthusiasts, reaction mechanism artists and fellow lab rats: there is no denying that we have all been through so much together. Whether we know each other or not, we all know the daily struggles of being a science major. Our exams have definitely caused us to shed a tear or two while reevaluating our lives. We have made it through a lot and we can definitely rock that white lab coat, but on top of that, here are just a couple signs that we all can relate on some level:
1. Goggle face is a real thing.
We have all experienced the notorious goggle face. We attend lab for a few hours and for the rest of the day, everyone knows we had lab because of the marks left on your face from the lab goggles.
2. If you see people wearing long pants and gym shoes despite being 90 degrees out, there is a high chance they have lab later that day.
I suppose being a little warm throughout the day is better than getting a hydrochloric acid burn.
3. Not attending class is not a choice for us.
We all know that if we miss one lecture, it is actually like missing a week of class and now you are SOL for the rest of this topic. Unless, of course, you spend ten hours of your own time trying to teach yourself everything you learned on top of the multiple hours you would have spent studying anyway.
4. Listening to freshmen complain about their classes is humorous.
Freshman: "Oh man, my General Chemistry 1 exam is going to be so difficult."
Upperclassman: *Laughing in the background*
Just wait until you get to organic chemistry or histology.
5. Speaking of organic chemistry, you've definitely suffered through alkynes of problems.
See what I did there?
6. Science puns are the greatest things to man kind.
Some of my science puns are funny, but that only happens periodically. Be nice by laughing at them and don't act like an acid with an attitude because that would make you a-mean-oh acid. (I'm so sorry for this)
7. Anatomy lab in the morning means smelling like a cadaver the rest of the day.
There is nothing quite like walking around smelling like formaldehyde after spending your morning holding human brains and bones.The reality of being a science major has never smelled so bad, but at least you get to brag to all your non-science major friends on how you stuck your hand in an abdomen earlier that day.
8. Sometimes your science knowledge gets you into petty Facebook debates about how you should definitely vaccinate your child.
Seeing people with zero background in science whose only diploma is probably from the University of Google argue that scientific data is invalid and everything is part of the "big pharma" is quite frustrating. Stay strong and continue to tell them to stop listening to the e-cigarette promoter, botox filled wash up of a "celebrity," Jenny McCarthy, tell you that vaccines are not safe. Oh, and they definitely do NOT cause Autism.
9.You have studied so much for an exam that you begin to have dreams about the material.
Your dreams have gone from falling and being chased to drawing mechanisms and remembering the process of how to Gram Stain.
10. Finding out your final is going to be cumulative makes you die a little inside.
Just, I'm so sorry.
11. But finding out your final is not cumulative is like going to heaven.
Now I only have to study for 20 hours instead of 120 hours! *tears of joy*
12. Your entire phone's camera roll becomes pictures of notes and white boards.
13. You've definitely looked at how much strippers make nightly after taking a difficult exam.
I can make hundreds of dollars cash in one night but here I am, studying until 4 am for an exam I need to do well on in order to get into another school to do the same thing for the next four years, and then maybe start making decent money, if I get a job.
14. When someone asks you what you are studying, sometimes you really do not know how to respond.
I'm working on science, that's what I'm doing.
15. And after a week of exams, alcohol isn't the problem, its the solution.
Get it?! Drink up!