Chemistry – a scientist’s playground. So full of twists and turns that may seem difficult to understand at first glance. At first, it’s not so bad once you start learning your “significant figures,” but it takes a turn for the worse after the introduction of light equations. It’s jumping from simple numbers and the basic foundation to physics math. What a leap! The subject itself isn’t even that hard, it’s just the teachers who make the class hard for no reason. And I would know. As someone who’s barely passing with an ‘A’ in that class, take it from me.

Room 507, third period every day. It’s one of the most, if not the most important class a sophomore in high school can take (juniors are open to more options for science classes, so others could have more priority). My teacher is called Ms. Cook, who dare I say, is a chef just like the name suggests. Every unit she cooks up something for us to chow down on whilst most of us are still chewing on our current dish. Not to mention the fact that she cooks her students pan-seared with every test, and some students are unfortunate enough to be left on the stove to burn. I have a friend in the period after, an octopus who breaks just as much as he bends. Unfortunately for him, he was engulfed in the flames of the last chem test and got cooked alive. He’s calamari now.

Although Ms. Cook is teaching a demanding class, she tries her best to plate it well and make it fun for everyone. I find it quite fun, but that doesn’t rule out its difficulty as a class. However, my friend in the same period is a real swan – flawless and graceful. He’s never scored below an ‘A’ on any assignment, quiz, test, lab report, or project. In fact, he ended the first semester of chem with a perfect grade of 100%. Wowzers! He is balling on the scientists’ playground as he soars high into the sky on the swings and knows his way around very well. I wish I could experience that much fun on the playground too…

This is my friend, Melvin the Swan

Oh me? I’m just barely understanding the content. I’m not going to complain about chem because I’m definitely going to see it again in college. I’m having fun in my own way, on my own playground. To be honest, this playground is pretty dull and boring, so you can tell how much fun I’m having. Ever since the year started, it felt like the play structure had been gradually replaced with less interesting equipment as the months rolled over. How am I supposed to have fun with this thing called a “periodic table”?

My periodic table

I walked into the class thinking that I’d look forward to a fun ‘game’ to entertain myself. I wasn’t wrong, but I wasn’t entirely correct either. I look to my friend Melvin practically every day for guidance and he obliges. At times I don’t understand when he’s squawking the concept back at me, so I get a wee bit lost along the way. On the day of the test, I still find myself stuck on the slide, close to the bottom or not. I can’t always have fun on the playground when it’s too abstract to understand and maneuver about, just like Isamu Noguchi’s designs. I could be trapped between the bars, I could fall from a tall structure, or I could be flung from the swings and hit the wall. Chem is dangerous – no wonder Noguchi’s ideas were turned down yet so inspiring.