Out of My Element
Written by Katie Kortepeter
As a junior English and French major, I’ve finally summoned the courage to take my core science classes. This semester, I entered Strosacker Science Building for the first time, feeling more than a little intimidated by the thought of balancing equations and wearing lab goggles. Within the first few minutes of my Chemistry 101 class, however, Dr. Hamilton’s kindness and sense of humor put me at my ease. I was impressed that he could create puns on the spot for everyone’s name while reading through the class roster. Dr. Hamilton is not only the punniest professor on campus, but he clearly wants his students to succeed—even us English majors.
For the first couple weeks, while walking the halls of Strosacker, I got the occasional surreptitious glance from science majors, while multiple friends incredulously asked, “Why are you here?” It felt awkward to explain my presence on their turf, but each of them was happy to see me there and offered help if I needed it. And I did need it.
My fear of the hard sciences had been compounded by a mistaken impression that I would be panicking alone. But a week of frenzied exam prep showed me otherwise. Free night tutors, office hours, class study sessions, and a little serendipity gave me the confidence and knowledge I needed to do my best. The Tuesday before my first test, I showed up for office hours and was distressed to find that my professor was out for an hour. I was on a tight schedule, and my face clearly showed my disappointment as I turned to leave. But another student doing his homework outside Dr. Hamilton’s office took pity on me. “Need any help?” he asked. I recognized him as my lab TA and threw myself on his mercy. For the next half hour, he patiently walked me through Lewis dot structures and ionic charges. I’d never met him before and had no idea what I was doing, but he didn’t hesitate to put aside his work to help a struggling English major.
As luck would have it, my first big chem exam was a disaster, but not for the reason I expected. A bout of bronchitis derailed my studying, and it was all I could do to even show up for the test. “C’est la vie,” I coughed to myself as I turned in my test, vowing that next time would be a success. Whether or not I got a decent grade remains to be seen, but in trying my hardest to understand the material, I gained something more valuable—a deeper appreciation for our chemistry department and its students.
Hailing from Indianapolis, Katie Kortepeter, ’17, is an English and French major. She frequently swing dances, speed reads Tolstoy, and practices her Chinese as a bubble tea waitress.