Alex's Blog: A University Experience

July 6th, 2015

Hi, my name’s Alex Liu, and I’m a rising sophomore. This summer, I applied for the Chemistry Research Academy program at the University of Pennsylvania, and I managed to secure a spot in the class. Hopefully I’ll be able to find the time to document my experiences throughout my time here, giving you some insight on university life.

The Summer Discovery program at UPenn is really unique. The staff does everything they can to make you feel like a college student while keeping in mind that you’re still around 16 or so. The ID cards are labeled “Undergraduate” instead of alluding to a summer program, and counselors really try to get you used to dorm life. Actually, I’m one of the youngest kids here, having just finished freshman year. Most of the students here are attending because they’re interested in applying next year. Some are even taking courses for college credit.

The amount of freedom here is scary. I got the impression that the gap from middle school to high school was pretty significant, but students are literally allowed to wander around the surrounding city within certain boundaries. The campus of UPenn spans just 20 blocks; everything is within walking distance. Within “University City,” as it’s called, there are clothing shops, restaurants, convenience stores, etc. all available for students to access during free time. There aren’t that many set programs or activities that are mandatory outside of class. Additionally, the majority of the buildings are accessible to campers during our stay here. I look forward to exploring some of the science buildings, hopefully the libraries too.

Moving on to the class experience itself; today was the first day of class, and I have to say, there really are a variety of people here. Ethnicity, knowledge-level, and age are different between every student. I felt a bit wary at first because I thought I’d be behind in the knowledge spectrum, having only taken the equivalent of an honors level chemistry course, but I soon found people at my level, some even older than me (I haven’t taken the pre-assessments though; the Wi-Fi here is a pain to set up, and I’m still waiting on it). The syllabus seems really scary, to be honest. The teacher, Dr. Susan Phillips, stated clearly that the course wouldn’t be at all similar to a high school course, and introduced topics ranged from nanoparticles to spectroscopy to crystal field theory. Hopefully I’ll be able to put those in laymen’s terms for this blog by the time I’m done here. However, the key idea behind everything was creativity. We were told that most of the labs would be open ended, with self-designed procedures. Currently, I’m just praying that I can keep up with the students from China; the moment they stepped into the lab, one could tell that their atmosphere (no pun intended) was more intense. The schooling system there is really something else (one kid told me about figuring out alkali metal reactions by blowing up his friend’s toilet with a chunk of potassium).

There was in fact a lab today, but it was more of a challenge if anything. Given some pennies, glue, tape, canola oil, sodium bicarbonate, hydrogen acetate, and sodium chloride, we were required to make a film canister float, sink, and hover in a beaker of water. The first two requirements were fairly easy to fulfill. I worked with Noah, one of my hall-mates, and Martin, who told me he was from Nanjing, China. The last requirement, however, was slightly challenging. We ended up mixing a salt solution and adding oil bit by bit to decrease the density. Eventually, we got a 3-4 second hover before the canister floated back to the top, but Martin was still determined to find a way to control the timing. Unfortunately, we were stopped for lunch.

However, we were thrust back into the lab later on for a second challenge: make the canister sink first, then hover. This would prove to be a huge challenge. Our first idea was to fill the canister with salt, then poke a hole in somewhere. That way, the water would gradually dissolve the salt, allowing the canister to eventually lift off the bottom of the beaker. However, that would take too long, and I insisted that we come up with a better solution. Our second idea was to poke a hole in the top of the canister, then add sodium bicarbonate and oil. Right before sinking the canister, we’d add hydrogen acetate, resulting in a reaction (more commonly known as the baking soda/vinegar reaction). The carbon dioxide produced would push the oil out, allowing the device to float. We didn’t account for the fact that water in the beaker would replace the carbon dioxide, however, so that trial failed too.

At this point, we’d sort of given up. Martin was playing around with a pressure equation I’d never seen before. I suddenly came up with a farfetched idea based on an ocean buoy. Since ocean buoys are heavier on the bottom, they stay upright. What I ended up doing was wrapping the bottom of the canister with pennies, placing a few inside so that it would initially sink, then poking a hole in the bottom. I then carried out the above reaction in the canister, and the reaction produced enough carbon dioxide to fill the canister and then some, so that the canister sat on a little pocket of carbon dioxide from the hole in the bottom. It didn’t last long, but when the reaction finished, the three of us were ecstatic. I'm looking forward to the other labs in the next few weeks.

Here’s the canister after the reaction:

Despite being excited about the results, I realized that I’d forgot to write anything down! This lab wasn’t like a classroom where the instructions were printed out before hand; I had designed the procedure. I ended up repeating the experiment just to write down the procedure. I realized how important it was to write things down when not following a set list of instructions.

Hopefully I’ll be able to post at least every other day, but the class is pretty exhausting, so there might be a few skips. Either way, I hope you’re able to gain some insight about life on a college campus, maybe about chemistry as I move on to more difficult material

August 1st, 2015

So I'm reading this now and I've realized I've come such a long way. I'm sorry I wasn't able to update this at all; research kept me up as late as 3 AM some days. Either way, I'm back home now, and I've had such a great experience in the program. The class covered catalysts, nanoparticles, and coordination compounds, with an emphasis on the third topic. I learned a lot about what really happens when ions go into solution and how they apply in the real world; why solutions are certain colors, why cyanide is so dangerous, etc. There were also guest professors who came in to talk about relevant subjects like crystal field theory, as well as more off topic research topics like protein modeling using fluorescence and FRET (SO captains please don't put me in Protein Modeling; I still don't get it).

The focus of the program, however, was ultimately research. I learned the importance of observing, and how it leads to a hypothesis. Although I had taken on a research topic of graphene applications and synthesis during my stay, the lab I designed on "free-lab" day had absolutely nothing to do with graphene; it was completely based on an observation I'd made during a previous lab. We'd been studying a few cobalt complexes, and I'd realized there was a trend between ligand size and bond strength (an activity series of size, if you will). A ligand is a group which bonds to an ion by "donating" both electrons in a bond. Certain ligands form certain molecules based different properties, but they can be highly irregular. Many rules are based off observation. Certain ions also prefer certain ligands; a cobalt (II) ion may coordinate more readily to a nitrogen donor than a nickel (II) ion. I used a cobalt (II) chloride compound as well as stocks of reagent grade propanol, butanol, pentanol, and hexanol to test an alcohol replacement trend. I'll attach the lab report after I finish; I've only just finished organizing the data I collected. Just a quick note: fume hoods actually serve a purpose. I think I was drunk enough from the alcohol fumes to walk backwards on a straight line test. Those solutions were 100% alcohol; scary.

All 47 of us were required to research a certain topic during the program. I ended up choosing graphene application and synthesis; I'd known about graphene before, and it'd always fascinated me. We had a "conference" on the last day, where all of us rotated between viewing and presenting our topics. It was such a unique experience, seeing everyone's interests, especially because we all had varying levels of background knowledge. I got to learn about topics ranging from superconductive ligands to photolysis.

Aside from the academic experience, I think the more influential and glaring aspect was the college experience itself. Most of my friends weren't actually in my program (aside from one in particular); I simply got to know them through hellos on campus. Being able to develop life bonds in a mere three weeks seems a bit fishy, but I can't say anything against it because I've experienced it myself. Below is a brief thank you to my significant friends, which I ended up posting to Facebook (many of you may have read this already):

I always get emotional after summer programs. tl;dr rant about UPenn and thank yous to my friends.

Lemme get to the point. I'm breaking down as I speak, but it's different from the past two years. CTY had tradition. I could cry over a song, an event; something associated with the program.

It's different now. College life was great, but college life sucks too.

Because you have to leave. The only thing I have to cry over is friendship. Friendship, and an incredible lab experience I'll cherish for the rest of my life.

Stephen, Edgar, Yinzhi and Peter, thank you for always being there. I wish I could have you as regular upperclassmen at my school. You've all taught me so much with your thoughts, your ideas, and your experiences. I couldn't wish for a better squad, and I wish you the best of luck in applying for college (Peter don't play too much league junior year). Hope to see you on the East Coast sometime.

Serina, I'm so glad I met you. You're one of the most unique girls I've ever met. It's so easy to talk to you, and I'll miss all the conversations we had, along with the bit of piano we played towards the end of the session. I don't know how much you'll remember about me in a few weeks (psst your memory needs some work), but stay in touch. I'll treasure our time together.

Martin, thank you for being an inspiration in the lab. The moment we started the first lab with the film canister, I sensed something was different. Your thirst for knowledge and passion for chemistry are both off the charts. I know I'm going to see your research in the journals someday. Keep rocking the name tag.

Premal, Prateek, Noah, Nick, Rudy, Johnny, Stephen, Michael, and Gervon, thanks for being a great RC group. It's been a real pleasure living with you guys. Wish I coulda said more in the group chat.

Thank you to all my instructors and all the professors who came in to speak at the program. Dr. Phillips, Ms. Carroll, Mr. Barry, and Mr. Wolf. You've taught me so much about research. How much it sucks. How difficult it is to find a breakthrough. But most importantly, how to observe. I came into the program thinking that everything had to have a reason behind it. There has to be a logical explanation, right? Not always. Some things can only be explained by observation, then the best guess that comes from the interpretation. I've finally realized that, and I'll keep the thought with me as I continue to pursue science in high school.

Thank you to the food truck man across the gate. Your bacon, egg and cheese sandwich is on point. Keep it at three dollars.

And thank you, Claudia. By some miracle, I managed to get close with the quietest girl in the class. And I'd realized I'd found someone like me. 2/10 on the pre-assessment. An internet freak. Someone who, at heart, was incredibly introverted. I'll miss sitting in the front row of the lecture hall. Half-assing the umbrella. Watching anime and laughing at nosebleeds and perverts. Dying in agar.io every single damn time. Laughing at accents as we walked down the street. Snapchats of my prison window every night. The list goes on; I don't think it'd ever end. I'm glad I met you, as a classmate and an unforgettable friend.

It's been fun, everyone. I've had so many new experiences, and I've learned so much. Whether or not I apply to UPenn doesn't really matter; my time here was incredible because of the people I met. I hope our paths cross in the future, near or distant.

College isn't just an educational experience. It's not just a place to get wasted in a frat house or a sorority. You can build friendship, have loads of fun, and create an awesome, rich environment if you meet people you click with. I'm endlessly grateful to everyone who contributed to my experience, and I encourage all of you to look for similar opportunities throughout your high school experiences, regardless of your levels of interest in STEM.

I hope you've gotten something out of this blog. Thanks for reading.

I'm out.

-Alex