It's already August! Wow, where has the time gone? Five months left until I need to submit my PhD thesis.
I arrived home from work after an unsuccessful day in the lab. The electrodes attached to my potentiostat were disfunctioning. I spent my 3 hours of lab time, trying to trouble shoot the problem. With the help of one of the guys in the workshop, I was able to fix the electrode. However, upon a "dummy test", the signal was not strong. I gave up, and decided to go home and not waste anymore time.
I arrived home and prepared a quiche for dinner. I was feeling inspired by Emma (as over the weekend, she made a really awesome scrambled eggs). The egg filling alone contained some butter and rosemary.
After I finished preparing dinner, I was still in the mood to cook - anything to avoid working on my thesis! I decided to prepare tomorrow nights dinner as well.
I don't know about you, but I get tired of eating similar things all the time. I feel like it is super boring and not creative at all. While I was having these thoughts, I had finished the rest of our loaf of bread. That's when I was inspired to make some bread.
I remember when I was much younger, around 15 years old and would often bake various things for my family. I enjoyed baking a lot - from bread to cakes. However, I saw so many people around me who were a lot better. I often compared myself to others and it really demotivated me to cook (Yes, I always wanted to be the best). I wonder what life would have been like if I didn't compare myself and just did the things that I enjoyed - because I enjoyed them.
Maybe my enjoyment of baking and "creative cooking" is the reason that I chose chemistry. I always wonder what drove me to stay in chemistry. I usually say that it was because I got the best marks for the least amount of effort - which is probably true. Now, I am thinking that it was also because I was using my hands to create something. Synthesis is very similar to cooking: a step by step process to create something wonderful.
The funny thing is though, I struggle so much to follow recipes. The same thing applies in the lab: I struggle a lot to follow new synthetic protocols. This caused so much stress during my undergrad: as I didn't perform as well as some of the other students. Somehow I have made it through and am almost finished a PhD in chemistry! Sometimes I forget how amazing it is that I've made it this far. Dani had to remind me earlier today when we were discussing my PhD.
