WINTER 2023���������
LIFE LESSONS FROM A FIRST YEAR UCHICAGO
MOLECULAR ENGINEERING STUDENT
By Danielle McConnell
Standing on a street corner in Hyde
Park, I looked around the city that
I would attempt to make my mark
on. I hung posters on walls that had
witnessed countless university students
complain about honors chemistry,
host midnight study breaks, and
cook ramen using a coff ee maker. I
received my schedule that is fi lled to
the brim with S.T.E.M. courses and
feverishly hoped I would survive the
courseload. As I slept in my new bed
on new sheets, I wondered if I would
have the famed “college experience”.
I feared that I would never live up
to the movies, I would not have the
experiences deemed as necessary. I fell
asleep regretting trading my small,
comfortable town in Mississippi for the
third biggest city in America.
As classes began, I fell into a
daily routine focused on excelling
academically. Walking to the
chemistry laboratory, I would discuss
the latest nobel prize awarded to
Moungi G. Bawendi. I started
applying to biochemical laboratories
on campus that specialize in RNA
splicing. I made friends while studying
in the dining hall and fabricated
jokes surrounding the Calculus II
curriculum. I attended bouquet
making classes in hopes of attracting
the attention of a certain individual.
I learned the art of recording lectures
and starting a google calendar. As I
walked from academic building to
academic building, I started to love
the little moments I had created. I
enjoyed constructing a pendulum and
futilely trying to disprove Avogadro’s
number. As a woman in S.T.E.M., I
attended the meetings for Society for
Molecular Engineering and Society
for Women Engineers and befriended
like-minded individuals. In my mind,
I had perfectly executed the “college
experience”.
Th en, one Saturday night, I hosted
a Canadian Th anksgiving social in
my room. We crowded in the kitchen
in order to cook forty pancakes and
laughed as we tediously balanced them
on three plates. Th e pancakes wobbled
precariously as we served them.
Realizing that we only had spoons, we
erupted into another bout of laughter.
Blasting the latest Canadian hits, we
played card games, danced to Celine
Dion, and feasted on maple syrup.
As I sat there laughing over the
corniest joke that my friend made,
I realized the most important part
of being a university student. Th e
mark you make is not on the city but
the people that are in it. Success is
defi ned by the number of smiles you
deal out on the sidewalk. My major
is not my most
defi ning quality.
I fi nd happiness
while dancing at
2 a.m. to Band
on the Run by
Paul McCartney
and Wings
after studying
thermodynamics
for four hours.
My roommate
convinced me
to start a tea
collection and
now I regularly
drink Chamomile
with a dash of
honey. She is successful. She impacts
me.
I can follow my passion to become
a molecular engineer and still have
the “college experience”. Th e “college
experience” is nothing more than
fi nding a home in the laughs of your
friends. I look forward to discovering
where my passions take me next. Will I
fi nd a laboratory to research in? What
in the world does a mid-term look like?
Maybe, I will switch to biochemistry
in the future. Th ere is no adventure,
no progress when staying where you
are comfortable. I am excited for what
academic opportunities lie in my near
future, but I want to emphasize the
true force of connections. I never want
myself, or anyone else for that matter,
to forget where they came from and
who they know. Your friendships are
your strongest asset and that, ladies
and gentlemen, sums up my fi rst lesson
at the University of Chicago.