There are certain courses in college that are unanimously considered to be the Bermuda Triangle of Sanity. All sense of intelligence, reason and self-worth are destroyed upon taking any of these courses. Organic chemistry is one of them, and as a Chemistry major, I had the dubious pleasure of going through a year's worth of Organic chemistry. And let me tell you, it has been a wild ride. So without further ado, let me recount my experience of taking the dreaded "Orgo" with a little help from gifs.
1. You hear the whispers and see the grimaces
Expect to see this face every time you tell an upperclassman that you're taking Orgo in the near future. They will then proceed to tell you all the horror stories they've either heard from others or have experienced themselves. The conversations usually end with a pat on the back and a somber "Good luck!" Yep, real encouraging.
2. First week of classes: This isn't so bad
Yep, that's what having low expectations does for you: it lulls you into a false sense of security. You expected to get bombarded with homework and dense theories but in reality, you received a manageable amount of homework and a very friendly professor. You start feeling like you can pull this off.
3. Second week of classes: The reality dawns
You look at the syllabus and realize you've got 25 in-text and end-of-chapter problems to do and a quiz to study for JUST over the weekend. As soon as lab starts, there's also a pre-lab, a lab notebook and a lab report (from last week) due. And all of this is only a week's worth of homework. Your mind goes into "ABORT MISSION!" mode but you know, it's too late now.
4. Third week of classes: Freaking out
The late nights at the library begin. Orgo students huddle together in groups of sleep-deprived, overstressed bundles trying to cope with the sheer amount of work they're given. At this point, you don't even know what you don't know. You get back your first round of quizzes/lab reports/exams and realize that this is the year when your GPA goes downhill. However, you can't even take some time out to grieve because you've got another round of exams coming up in two days. Oh joy.
5. Rest of the year: Acceptance.
At this point, you realize that this will be your life for the next one year. So might as well get used to the pressure.
