So again, I'm waiting for the dumb XRD instrument to realign. Why not comment on what I saw today in the chemistry building?
I saw a little girl running around on my floor - going in and out of a lab. This is not that unusual in the summertime. Professors and graduate students every once in awhile will have their children with them at the lab. I always wonder what the kids think of our smelly building full of wierd people called chemists. This little girl today was hanging out in a lab full of large analytical instruments (I don't even know that they do) with just her socks on (I guess she had kicked off her shoes). Her grandpa (I'm assuming here) was talking to her about "sensitive data" and what-not. I wondered if she knew what he was talking about. I do think though that hanging out in the chemistry building could be good for that little girl, along with the other kids that spend time up here in the summers. They might view chemistry as something that could be fun and as an attainable career. Every so often, the ACS (American Chemical Society) conducts a survey among elementary, middle school, and high school students to see how they view chemistry as a career. Most of the views usually are either of a mad scientist that blows things up or as a forensic scientist (aka CSI). I would think that hanging out in the chemistry bulding might cause some kids to be chemists in the making. At the very least, they'll have funny memories of chemistry smells and lab equipment.
I look forward to bringing Case up one day to my office and lab. Maybe he's a chemist in the making, too!
1 comment:
You are doing something I never even dreamed one of our children would be doing. I like the idea that kids could get hooked on Chemistry early on. Think what advances would be made if more children grew up with dreams of working in the science field!
Post a Comment