Experience Summary
While I initially went to graduate school to become a research scientist, my focus shifted to teaching after I found out I enjoyed it so much! I took on multiple students in one-on-one tutoring sessions every semester, and helped them to succeed in organic chemistry. College students fear organic chemistry more than most classes, but I assure you I can make it not only understandable, but pretty simple! There are a handful of basic principles (pKa, electronics, reactivity, etc.) that I use in concert with a student's homework, exams, and practice problems to turn organic chemistry from an overwhelming, impossible, memorization-fest into a predictable, easy-to-understand course. I am well-versed in basic molecular structure, orbitals, reactions, mechanisms (arrow-pushing), NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, Infrared spectroscopy -- really anything addressed in undergraduate organic chemistry!
Teaching Style
I am animated and like to use analogies and humor so the students can recall concepts we've covered. Having spent hours upon hours in the organic chemistry student help room at Ohio State, I know all the problems students normally run into. I firmly believe in a visual style of learning, which pairs well with the visual subject matter of organic chemistry.
Other Comments
Relevant courses I have taken while in school:
Undergraduate:
- General Chemistry (I and II)
- Organic Chemistry (I and II)
- Quantitative Analysis
- Physical Chemistry (Quantum Physics and Thermodynamics)
- Inorganic Chemistry
- Biochemistry (I and II)
Graduate:
- Basic Organic Reaction Mechanisms
- Intro to Organic Synthesis
- Spectroscopy of Organic Compounds
- Stereochemistry and Conformational Analysis
- Advanced Organic Reaction Mechanisms
- Organometallic Chemistry (I and II)
- Intro to Physical Chemistry