Shaving, Ironing, and Dropping Out of CHEM 102

Shaving, Ironing, and Dropping Out of CHEM 102

I've done three things today.

1. I learned how to iron. There's a definite satisfaction to running a hot iron over a wrinkly shirt and seeing it come out smooth behind the iron. I know it's really a small achievement, but I always feel very strangely accomplished after finishing something trivial. With big accomplishments, things I should actually be proud of, there's always a feeling of, "phew, lucky that turned out well, now what should I do next?" But with ironing, I just smile and think, "I can iron."

2. I learned how to shave. After buying a razor, a Mach 3, and a hot shower, I shaved myself for the first time ever. I also nicked my upper lip for the first time ever. But I'm NOT happy about this, even though the actual shaving part is quite novel and surprisingly satisfying. But, I don't want to HAVE to shave, it's going to end up being a pain in the ass and I was perfectly happy thinking that I would just never grow facial hair. Unlikely I know, but I can still hope. Anyways now that I've begun shaving, I can only expect the next time to come up sooner and sooner, until I have to shave every day. UGH.

3. I dropped out of CHEM 102. I was sitting in the basement of the chemistry buildling half listening to the professor carry on about thermodynamics and half zoned out when it came to me. "I'm not getting anything out of this. What am I doing here?" And then, panicked, I began to search my head for some reason WHY I had enrolled in a chemistry class. I wouldn't have just spin a roulette wheel and have it land on chemistry did I?

I don't remember during course registration contemplating why I should take chemistry, I just assumed that Chemistry would be a course I take and registered.

Am I interested in chemistry? Well, I think I was in high school, but that might have more to do with a charismatic teacher, peer pressure, and a little academic swagger at having taken AP Chemistry as a sophomore in a class of mostly juniors and seniors.

Am I good at chemistry? Well, grades and scores would seem to show that, but wait, I wasn't even the best in my high school in the subject, and comparing the depth of that pool to Penn?

Do I need chemistry? I doubt I will be majoring in it, or any related subject for which it would be a requirement, so.... And yes, it's good to have some general knowledge of chemistry, but I think I learned enough in high school to satisfy that.

By the end of that hour, I had built up the resolve to drop. Anyways, now I'm in a linguistics class and a legal studies class. We'll see which one I like more.