Fall 2023
Alice Parker
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Major: Applied Mathematics What are your future plans? Graduate School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Amazed Hobbies/fun facts: I enjoy creating art, reading, and baking desserts. One of my favorite breaks from schoolwork is making a loaf of chocolate chip banana bread. What I love about chemistry: I love how chemistry gives us the means to understand and shape the world around us. What advice would you give new students? Don't underestimate the helpfulness of reading the textbook. It is a great resource. |
Logan Klar
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Vet School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Fascinated Hobbies/fun facts: I am a rock climber, twin brother, animal lover, and avid outdoorsman. What I love about chemistry: It was the first STEM subject that felt like a familiar language to me when I started to study it. I love educators who are passionate about chemistry and make it obvious when they teach. What advice would you give new students? Front-load extra effort on the first unit up to the first exam. Building a strong foundation on the basics will be invaluable when the class starts to pick up speed. And come to office hours! We are here to help you. |
Layla Purdy
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Major: Engineering What are your future plans? Graduate School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Enthusiastic Hobbies/fun facts: I like to mountain bike, climb, read, and make/listen to music. What I love about chemistry: It's fun/visual to work through, satisfying, and we can do really cool things with it when we understand it. What advice would you give new students? Put in the effort early and it will pay off big time. |
Noah Thompson
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Major: Chemistry What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Passionate Hobbies/fun facts: I love running and wake surfing. What I love about chemistry: How patterns connect and show how the world is built up. Advice to students: Work hard through problem sets and PDQ's. |
Jessica Dickinson
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Major: Chemistry What are your future plans? Graduate School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Beautiful Hobbies/fun facts: I like to ski, climb, and camp! I work as a ski instructor at Brighton. What I love about chemistry: Chemistry is a puzzle; it is so satisfying when all the pieces fit together. I also love that you have to find creative solutions. For a lot of problems, there is no perfect answer. It is fun to see the different paths a synthesis can take. Advice to students: Work with your peers and find ways to make studying fun! It is always better to have a few people to bounce ideas off of. Also, start studying early because cramming for ochem does not work (from personal experience.) |
Ty Demosthenes
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Major: Biochemistry What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Rewarding Hobbies/fun facts: I like to ski and play golf in their respective seasons. I'm a big fan of the San Francisco Giants. What I love about chemistry: O Chem builds on the foundations on Gen Chem in a way that removes the training wheels. You will see your knowledge grow immensely, not just through the acquisition of new information, but through applications that will force you to truly understand it. You will leave this class fascinated by what you now can, and still can't, explain about the world. Advice to students: Ask for help as early and as often as you need it. Getting lost and/or falling behind in O Chem can leave you in a daunting situation, so don't hesitate to explore and take advantage of all of the resources at your disposal. |
Abbie Saccomanno
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Major: Engineering What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? FUN! Hobbies/fun facts: I like to hike, bike, and snowboard. I am down for most things outdoors! What I love about chemistry: I love when you take up a whole page for a difficult problem and get it right! I love the rules and the creativity that goes into solving different problems. Advice to students: Get involved! Meet other students to study with, go to office hours, and attend classes. The only thing more fun than the subject is the students, TAs, and professor! |
Amber Brooks
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Excited Hobbies/fun facts: I work in a research lab that studies pediatric traumatic brain injuries and I am also on the club swim team! What I love about chemistry: I love how it is similar to a puzzle. You can figure out difficult problems using what you learned in class by twisting them and learning which concepts apply where. Advice to students: Work hard and have fun! This subject is so interesting. Use the resources available to you and collaborate with your peers. You are going to do great!
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Morgan Smoot
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Major: Biochemistry What are your future plans: Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry: Fascinating Hobbies/fun Facts: One of my favorite hobbies outside of class is cooking. I love to cook! Lately, I have been getting into Peruvian cuisine and have been trying to perfect lomo saltado! What I love about chemistry: Prior to taking organic chemistry, chemistry was not my favorite subject. In fact I loved any other subject more. Once I took organic chemistry my love for chemistry actually grew and I was obsessed with chemical reaction mechanisms. I found myself finding every possible worksheet that was submitted on canvas that included new mechanisms that I could practice for fun. The most enticing aspect of chemistry is how acids and bases work. I have been able to see the magic of acids and bases in lab and it has been miraculous to apply concepts from class to real life. Advice to students: A strategy that facilitated my success in organic chemistry was completing assignments early and addressing confusing concepts and questions that came up. I found that this avoided any future confusion with future material and kept me from getting behind in class. |
Linden Carter
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Major: Psychology What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Rewarding Hobbies/fun facts: I love to listen to music, rollerblade, thrift shop, play board games and be outside as much as I can. My greatest strength is parallel parking and my greatest weakness is sleeping through alarms. Looking forward to a great semester!! What I love about chemistry: I love Organic Chemistry because you are learning thought processes. It is not necessarily memorization, it is learning how and why things happen the way they do and this keeps things interesting when solving problems. What advice would you give new students? Ensure that you have a balance of both independent study and group study. Independent study is essential for identifying and addressing personal weaknesses. It is also important to stay fully engaged during lecture and discussion and start your organizational notebooks early on in the unit to keep your topics and thoughts organized. Lastly, utilize your TA's as much as possible! Talk through problems, ask questions and get as much criticism as you can to maximize success. |
Victoria Chiou
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Major: Chemistry What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Fascinating Hobbies/fun facts: Things I do often are listening to music, going on walks, and hanging out with friends. What I love about chemistry: I love that chemistry always challenges me to do my best while still enjoying the process of learning. I also like learning about the mechanisms and details in chemistry; it helps me understand the bigger picture and apply it to other fields of studies. Advice to students: I would recommend attending office hours held by the TAs and the professor for additional help, and don't be afraid to make mistakes or ask questions! I would recommend pre-reading and reviewing materials throughout the week, little bits at a time so you aren't overwhelmed, and doing as many practice problems as you can. Good luck! |
Tom Christensen |
Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Animated Hobbies/fun facts: I go for runs every day in downtown Salt Lake and I have usually willpower strong enough to pass the Cheesecake Factory without even buying a slice. What I love about chemistry: I love that the world can be described through the lens of chemistry. Take what you learn here and apply it anywhere. Advice to students: Remember what you don't remember! I know that sounds a bit pretentious, but I mean
it! You'll come to realize very quickly in this class that some things make sense
to you, and other things just don't. At first, I was the kind of student to ignore
that "click" and pray it wouldn't show up on the test. Heads up - somehow, that stuff
always shows up on the tests.
So here's my advice; make a list of "difficult topics". Instead of ignoring them,
write them down! Include compounds you can't remember, mechanism that are vague, values
you struggle with, etc. You know very well what you know very well. Make a progressive
pre-organizational notebook so that you can remember what you don't remember.
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Jamie Covington
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Major: Chemistry What are your future plans? Medical Cchool/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Excited Hobbies/fun facts: My hobbies include hiking, reading, and fossil hunting. What I love about chemistry: I love chemistry because I see it as a fun puzzle. It involves lots of problem solving and application of concepts which I enjoy. Advice to students: Please ask for help as soon as you feel like you are struggling to prevent getting further behind. |
Diyar Ahmed
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Major: Chemistry What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Serene Hobbies/fun facts: I like to work on the weekends. I work in pharmaceuticals so its pretty cool to see
all these drugs and the chemistry being applied in the real world. What I love about chemistry: You don't need to memorize anything you can understand the movement of electrons and it makes sense. Chemistry is an expressible science and that's what makes it so amazing! Advice to students: If you face challenge in this life, let this challenge shape you to become a stronger version of yourself. Don't close your heart to new opportunities when times get tough and learn from your previous mistakes. |
Ainsley Nystrom
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Major: Chemistry What are your future plans? Graduate School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Enthralling Hobbies/fun facts: I love camping, skiing, hiking, and pretty much anything outside! My house plant collection is quite large and is always growing (it's a problem)... What I love about chemistry: I love how beautiful it is! There are so many interesting details about how the world works around us and chemistry aims to explain some of it. It is so cool to see how different elements, molecules, and structures interact with each other and even on themselves! Advice to students: If you are willing to put in the time/work, you will see it pay off. Find a study group or partner and hold each other accountable. Don't be afraid to ask the TA's questions because they all want to help you succeed! |
Madi Ganelin |
Major: Graduated Spring 2022 in Biology with a Chemistry Minor What are your future plans? I want to work in an IVF lab one day as an embryologist. Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? LOVE Hobbies/fun facts: Since graduating, I've been at ARUP in the Molecular Genetics department and loving every second. I have recently gotten into pottery and it has been so fun! What I love about chemistry: I love that it is a puzzle and there are patterns to learn to help you recognize how to know what to do on a problem. Advice to students: Be open to Ochem! You've probably heard things about the class. Just know it does take work, and I know you can get an A in this class if you put in that work! I can't wait to help you on your journey! |
Elizabeth Schilling
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Enthusiastic Hobbies/fun facts: In my free time I love to read, ski, workout, volunteer, and spend time with friends. I live at home with my family and two dogs and I have lived in Salt Lake City, UT my whole life. I am hoping to apply to medical school in Summer 2024. What I love about chemistry: Organic chemistry taught my how beautiful chemistry is. I love that I can study something that I can not see and make realizations about my every day world. I can apply my knowledge of organic chemistry into my life and understand more deeply how food, perfumes, medications, etc. work and allow humans to thrive. What advice would you give new students? If you can only get yourself to do one thing this semester, go to class! Get to lecture on time and distraction free. Organic chemistry is not easy and you will need to stick with it! Pay attention closely to patterns and don't be afraid to ask questions. Build connections with other students and teaching staff because it will make your organic chemistry experience much more feasible and much more enjoyable. |
Angelina Ho
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Major: Psychology What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Excited Hobbies/fun facts: I enjoy making jewelry, reading, crafts, concerts, and talking about Hollywood tea. What I love about chemistry: I love how it is challenging but that the problems are like puzzles and once you figure them out it is very exciting and fun. What advice would you give new students? Organic Chemistry seems terrifying at first, but there is not a better place to be to learn Organic Chemistry than Holly's class. She truly tries her best to set you up for success, so make sure to utilize the resources she gives you. The TAs will are there to support and help you. Do not be afraid to ask for help! Everyone learns at different paces, make sure to put in the work you need to understand the content. Try your best not to fall behind! You've got his! |
Katherine Park
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Major: Psychology What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Rewarding Hobbies/fun facts: I'm huge fan of classical music and have been in the university's symphony as the principal flautist for the past two years! I love painting, reading, learning new languages, and finding new local coffee shops. I am also the current president for Pre-SOMA, so if you are interested in osteopathic medicine, I'd love to connect! What I love about chemistry: Chemistry, particularly organic chemistry, is such an honest science and seeing how versatile and expansive it is is amazing. It is so rewarding to take all the knowledge you've accumulated and actually see it come to life in your interests, hobbies, and/or other studies! What advice would you give new students? There is a lot of material to learn in this class, and that can often get overwhelming. Take things one at a time and really put in the effort to understand a concept entirely and be able to explain the "why" behind it. Remember that your best effort doesn't look the same as someone else's best effort, and that is completely okay! Work at a pace that works best for you and don't be afraid to ask for help from the TA's, Holly, or your classmates! |
Natalie Aguilar
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Major: Business Administration What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Fun Hobbies/fun facts: Spending time outdoors with my friends and family is always fun and creates new memories. I love going to concerts and watching my favorite artists perform while having the best time with my friends. What I love about chemistry: Chemistry can be a big puzzle with the topics and concepts as the puzzle pieces. It's an interesting subject to learn and one where new findings occur daily. What advice would you give new students? Organic chemistry can feel overwhelming at first but dedicating time and effort to understanding the concepts and patterns will help build your confidence and skills needed to succeed in the course. Ask questions and find a study group to learn from each other. Don't stress, you've got this! |
Ethan Klobutcher
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Major: Chemistry What are your future plans? Fire Department Hazmat Team Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Passionate Hobbies/fun facts: I love playing spike ball and golfing. What I love about chemistry: It explains how the world around us works. Advice to students: Don't be afraid to ask for help! |
Matt Long
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Major: Biochemistry What are your future plans? Graduate School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Excited Hobbies/fun facts: I am a very outdoors oriented person who likes to spend as much time as I can exploring the mountains as well as the national parks that are within the surrounding states. What I love about chemistry: I love how encompassing it is in our world. Everything can relate to chemistry in some way. Advice to students: Do your homework and attend office hours if you are stuck. |
Ashton Jensen
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Exciting Hobbies/fun facts: I love to hike, fly fish, and climb! What I love about chemistry: O-chem reminds me of solving a puzzle! It can be frustrating but also rewarding and fun! Advice to students: Take advantage of all your resources. Try and meet a good group of friends to study with! Don't be afraid to approach Holly to ask questions! |
Andrew Mardini |
Major: Psychology What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Fun Hobbies/fun facts: I enjoy playing golf and hanging out with my dog. What I love about chemistry: I love how deep it runs. Everything that might seem arbitrary or vague always ends up having a logical explanation to bring things full circle. What advice would you give new students? Don't be afraid to go to office hours and working together helps a lot. |
Benjamin Parkin |
Major: Biochemistry What are your future plans? Dental School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Nice Hobbies/fun facts: In my free time you can catch me skiing, cooking, trying to pick up heavy things, running, and dominating bronze lobbies in any fps game. What I love about chemistry: I love Chemistry because it has so many applications that explain the "why" behind the world around us. Ochem is especially fun because you're basically just solving puzzles but it actually means something! Advice to students: Dont let anyone's horror stories convince you that Ochem is ridiculously hard. Holly provides so many resources that make the class super manageable. Try a bunch of different things until you figure out what works and you'll have Ochem in the bag. |
AJ Parker
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Major: Exercise and Sports Science What are your future plans? Medical/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Excited! Hobbies/fun facts: I love rock climbing, crossword puzzles, making bread, and playing soccer with friends! I also enjoy reading sci-fi books and watching thrillers. What I love about chemistry: I love that you can find patterns in chemistry, and you can solve most problem in ochem by using all of your past knowledge and applying it to new situations. I also really love learning chemistry because it is applicable to everyday life, and it has helped me understand the world around me in a better way. Advice to students: Stay on top of the material and take advantage of office hours and review sessions. Organic chemistry can be a lot of fun if you give yourself the time to appreciate it! |
Emilio Trujillo |
Major: Engineering What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Fascinating Hobbies/fun facts: I like to read, play the piano and organ and sing. A fun fact of mine is that I speak Qʼeqchiʼ, which is a Mayan language from Guatemala. What I love about chemistry: I love how chemistry can be seen or used in everyday life. Our body uses many chemical processes to regulate and maintain itself. In other ways, chemistry is also used when cooking or baking. When I noticed these things, I became aware of the importance of chemistry and I grew to love it more. Advice to students: Take time to do practice problems and also practice exams. Review materials with past assignments. |
Sean Niedzwiecki |
Major: Chemistry What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Fascinated Hobbies/fun facts: I mountain bike a bunch and race for the cycling team, and something fun about that is the time I raced in Colorado and crashed four times in the same thirty second section. What I love about chemistry: I love how it is about learning why things happen on the smallest scale possible, which opens the door to so many practical applications. Advice to students: Hard work pays off here more than any other class, and re-doing problems on problem sets and PDQs is a lot more directly applicable to the exams than textbook problems. |
Bailee Fiedel
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Major: Chemistry and Biology What are your future plans? Vet School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Enthusiastic Hobbies/fun facts: I enjoy hiking and baking. I am a triplet and I have six siblings. What I love about chemistry: I love how OCHEM is pattern-based. Solving a problem is like a puzzle, and it is super satisfying once everything clicks! Advice to students: Don't procrastinate! Because of the amount of material presented, if you fall behind you'll have a difficult time catching up. Aim for deep comprehension rather than memorization. |
Tala Shihab
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Major: Exercise and Sports Science What are your future plans? Dental School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Amazed Hobbies/fun facts: I love to learn new crafts! I crochet, embroider, sew, paint, make jewelry, etc. What I love about chemistry: The satisfaction of understanding a little more of how the world works. Chemistry is exciting as there is always something new to learn as well as room to grow and challenge yourself! What advice would you give new students? Do not be intimidated if you don't know the answer! Allow yourself time to contemplate if you're stuck on a problem and don't jump to solutions/key right away. Take advantage of every single extra credit opportunity! Also, don't be afraid to ask questions, we are here to help and we are always rooting for your success :) |
Wyatt Brownson
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Graduate School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Relieved Hobbies/fun facts: I love to ski and ski for our freeride team here at the U. I love to travel and will take any excuse to go somewhere new. What I love about chemistry: The difficulty of it but then the satisfaction associated with finally grasping a concept. Advice to students: Office hours are super helpful. |
Aaris Wood |
Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Fascinated Hobbies/fun facts: I enjoy reading, learning random facts, and spending time with my family. What I love about chemistry: What I love about organic chemistry is how topics build on each other. Rather than learning about concepts that appear to have no connection to one another, you can apply the same rules you learned at the start of the course to different problem-solving scenarios. This ensures that many fundamental principles remain pertinent until the end of the class. Advice to students: The amount of work put into this course is very important and underpins one's success. Making a genuine effort to work through the problem sets and PDQs and considering how problems can be twisted is a great way to practice. It is also important to ask questions and take advantage of the many resources offered if you are struggling with the material. |
Nathan Bartlett |
Major: Engineering What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Interested Hobbies/fun facts: I love baseball and sports in general. I also love to ski! What I love about chemistry: I love that it all builds on itself. So, the more you learn, the more that even previously covered topics will make sense! Advice to students: Always keep trying! Try to get ahead on work from the beginning, but always know that you can catch up. |
Abigail Owsley
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Major: Psychology What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Fun! Hobbies/fun facts: I love skiing, hiking, listening to music, drawing, painting, and playing my electric guitar! What I love about chemistry: It's like a puzzle! Advice to students: Ask lots of questions! |
Max Rose
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Major: Latin American Studies What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Adventure Hobbies/fun facts: -- What I love about chemistry: There's always something new to learn. Advice to students: Go to office hours every week!
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Lana Hua
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Interesting Hobbies/fun facts: I love playing tennis, reading, and skiing! What I love about chemistry: I love that all the concepts build upon each other and love learning about its real life applications. Advice to students: Do lots of practice problems from the PDQs, problem sets, and discussion worksheets. Also, if you are struggling don't be afraid to get help! |
Savannah Romney
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Rewarding! Hobbies/fun facts: I love to play golf! What I love about chemistry: Every problem is like a puzzle, but there are many ways to get to the right solution! Advice to students: Practice... a lot! It may take some time, but you will have your lightbulb moments. Understand the material deeply, always do your best, and TRUST yourself and your preparation!
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Parker Guzman
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Major: Biology What are your future plans? Graduate School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Comfort Hobbies/fun facts: Big fan of birds (BFOB) What I love about chemistry: I love the feeling of working through a really difficult synthesis problem and the 'lightbulb moment' that accompanies it. One of my favorite things about organic chemistry is that you can solve seemingly impossible problems within the chaotic environment of molecules by relying on fundamental rules and patterns. Advice to students: Practice! And review your practice! Also make an effort to get to know Holly and the other TAs. Not only will forming a community help you with organic chemistry, through the organic chemistry 'network' you will find professional opportunities, friends, and mentors.
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Frances Laurent
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Major: Biochemistry What are your future plans? Graduate School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Eager Hobbies/fun facts: Playing tennis, hiking, reading What I love about chemistry: Learning about how things interact with each other to build the world we live in. Advice to students: Stay motivated! This class is tough but hard work and persistence pay off. |
Georgia Brach
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Major: Biochemistry What are your future plans? Teaching Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Favorite Hobbies/fun facts: I love being outside with my friends and family, particularly swimming in lakes and rivers. I love reading, dancing, going to see movies, and I'm an avid podcast listener. I also absolutely adore my cat Rosie! What I love about chemistry: I love learning about the chemistry of living organisms and the crazy complexity that keeps us walking around and doing our thing. Advice to students: Do practice problems a lot and don't be scared of making mistakes. When you're struggling with a topic, don't hesitate to ask for help. The TAs are here to answer any questions you have! |
Lily Herring
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Major: Psychology What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Thrilled Hobbies/fun facts: I love to travel, ski, climb, and crochet What I love about chemistry: I love the 3D aspect of it and how everything in the world involves at least a little bit of chemistry. Advice to students: Find your community. They will help you in the hard time and congratulate you in the good.
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Samuel Carling |
Major: Kinesiology (basically Exercise and Sports Science haha) What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Proclivity Hobbies/fun facts: I love hunting, fishing, hiking and pretty much anything outdoors! Fun fact about me is I do not have a perm, it's just naturally curly. What I love about chemistry: I love how chemistry is like another language. At first it felt impossible for me to understand, but once you build the basics and begin building on those basics you can start to understand it and it becomes beautiful. Advice to students: Don't compare yourself, we all have our own timelines. |
Madison Bailey
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Major: Chemistry What are your future plans? Medical School/PA School Which one word describes how you feel about organic chemistry? Excitement Hobbies/fun facts: Painting and Skiing. What I love about chemistry: I love learning how the world around us works on a molecular level. Advice to students: It takes a village to do well in this class, go to office hours and make friends with your classmates! |
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