I did not have much experience with this outcome prior to college. I had been introduced to chemistry concepts in high school but I did not really know how to connect them to biology. I also had not had any experience with physics. At Longwood my first experience with biology and chemistry in Chemistry 213 and 214 – Organic Chemistry II. Before each lab, I learned about the hazards of some chemicals and the side effects of what would happen if they came in contact with the body. That semester was spent working on a project with developing a new paraben that would not cause cancer and would still have antimicrobial properties.
Later in Perspectives in Toxicology, I learned the actual metabolic pathways of many common toxins and I thought it was interesting for me to see exactly what some toxins did in the body after working with them in the Organic Chemistry lab. I felt comfortable with this outcome by the time I took Biochemistry this past fall. The metabolic map project was the final project we did for that class where I wrote out the cycles in the cell and the electron transport chain and where each occurred. I found it easy to complete as it was a culmination of what I learned throughout my college career.