For STEM majors, lab components of classes can be cumbersome. They can add stress to the classroom experience–not to mention the long hours. Unlike research in a lab as part of a thesis or independent work, these labs may not allow for self-direction, and can feel very methodical. Sure, they apply what we are taught in class, but for me personally, the rates at which lab and lecture move can be quite different, and I do not fee the benefits of the lab experience until later on in the semester when it finally clicks for me.
What’s the point of lab work then?
It is an exposure for those interested in working the field; it is a career exploration. Looking at it in that light can help make those dreary afternoons (or nights, if you’re unlucky enough to end up in a night lab) pass by more quickly. I realized this when I took my first biology course with a lab component. I enjoyed that lab far more than my chemistry lab, and I realized it was because it felt applicable directly to me, since I want to work in a biology lab one day. Humans can be selfish creatures. We don’t always enjoy something until we realize it is directly related to us; that could be the case for the dislike for lab components. Realizing the hurdle behind your boredom or disinterest is important to break down whatever issue you have with a class. Sometimes, it’s as simple as it’s just not my career interest. While I cannot avoid chemistry labs since they are a part of my prerequisites, I can still look at it from the perspective of exploring a career in chemistry. For one day only, I can pretend to be a chemist.
In addition, for those first-year students reading this, lab components need not to be stressful grade-wise. They are meant to boost your grade. As a sophomore who has battled the throes of chemistry, I’ve never once said, “Oh no, it is my lab grade bringing me down.” I also have not heard it from my classmates. Fortunately (or unfortunately I suppose), the lecture component takes the brunt of that complaint. It usually works out, and lab grades are there to support you as a student. Relinquishing yourself from that stress of grades and taking a moment to just enjoy the lab as an academic and career exploration will allow those afternoons to pass as well as the lab component as a whole. One of my friends had been considering a molecular biology major, but she realized that she enjoyed the chemistry labs so much that she could see herself working in a chemistry lab rather than in a biology lab. She ended up switching majors. While not everyone will have success stories like hers, considering lab as exposure rather than just supplementing lecture is much more motivating.
Do not let those handful of students breezing through the procedure get you down. Lab work is a lot like following a recipe, and for some, being slow is the best way to be intricate. Go at your own pace, and just enjoy it, forgetting grades and the 1000 assignments you have due. For a little while, you’re a chemist or biologist or physicist, and best of all, there’s no commitment with that statement. It’s just a free trial. For STEM majors, we have our 3 hour labs as a rite of passage, but relish in the fact that everyone goes through it, and most everyone is slightly clueless about what is being mixed in the flasks.
— Haya Elamir, Natural Sciences Correspondent
