General Chemistry was a course I took because I loved chemistry in high school and it satisfied Longwood’s science requirement. One thing that was very different about this class from the rest of my courses was the lecture class that happened twice a week. I had never been in a classroom with so many people before, so it was shocking, and I wondered how the professor would keep all of us in line. However, the professor managed to keep the entire class engaged with interactive questions that could be answered using our phones throughout the PowerPoint lecture. She made sure to keep the content relevant as well, relating chemistry to technology we have today, like how cellphone’s touchscreens actually work.

My favorite part of the class was the labs even though some were very difficult. The artifact I chose for this class was a lab that we got to perform on our own using the materials provided for us and several experiments we could choose from. I like that she gave us the liberty to choose what ignited our curiosity as sometimes it is good to allow students to explore different options on their own with teacher supervision. This lab taught me not only the importance of proper lab safety, but also how to work with other people as I had a partner for the lab. My partner and I took turns doing each trial and helping each other out, not to mention we split the responsibility of clean up duty. Ultimately, this class taught me a lot about responsibility as I had to make sure I kept up with the readings outside of class as well as make sure I did my share of the work alongside my partner to ensure our success in the labs.