And now the post about the board.

I took the test last Monday and yesterday, September 5 and 6. The results shall be released tonight so till then I have to suffer the board jitters.

The exam was hard. As in HARD. I never expected the questions especially in Physical Chem. It made me feel stupid about chemistry, like I don't know anything about it. And the thing is, I always finish first while the others were sweating and crying with blood. But then, that's overly emphatic.

My philosophy is simple. I'm sure I studied everything I can. And I try hard to recall everything I read. But when I encounter a question and I dunno how to answer it, I do three things: 1) I read the question again, 2) think if the question being asked falls under the topics I read, 3) when I finally give up, I use my instinct and shade the answer that I feel is correct/possible. Why should I let myself suffer? I dunno the answer, I tried thinking, but I still dunno the answer. Why should I force myself when I know I can't find the answer in my head?

That's why I finish early when I take exams. I don't let myself suffer.

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The board was, well, I don't know how to describe it. It was generally hard. But then, I should be expecting that. It's just that I was not expecting it to be like THAT.

I just want to share some thoughts I had after the board. Here are some of the things I thought were important for me to know:

1) The number of ATPs and NADHs the glycolytic pathway produces with one mole of glucose.

2) The nucleophilic aromatic substitution proceeds by the replacement of a halide with a hydroxy on the aromatic ring when there are electron withdrawing groups attached to the ring.

3) Energy is lost when electrons move from a higher to a lower energy level where the transition is accompanied by the emission of a photon of light.

4) The rate of diffusion will be faster for gases with smaller molecular weights.

5) Acidic sulfide is important to precipitate group 2 cations.

...and a lot more.

I thought of the most common questions I encounter in chemistry. These are the questions that truly defines chemical principles. After all, that's what's important. But after the board, I realized what were important to the examiners.

1) Instead of knowing how much energy is produced by sugar intake, it is more important to know the enzyme that catalyzes substrate level phosphorylation in the glycolytic pathway.

2) Instead of knowing that benzene undergoes not only electrophilic aromatic substitution but also nucleophilic substitution, it is more important to know that it does not undergo SN1 or SN2 reaction.

3) Instead of knowing a bit of Quantum Mechanics as a vital part of Physical Chem where some concepts root, it is more important not to ask anything about it.

4) Instead of knowing how one gas can diffuse faster than the other, it is more important to know which among four given gases will not make a rubber balloon rise in the atmosphere.

5) Instead of knowing the principles that separates ions in a mixture (which you took up for a whole sem) and how ions dissociate to conduct electricity, it is more important to know how strong ions are when they are in solutions.

The board coverage is so wide you'll never know what to expect. It's so impossible to know everything.

I can't do anything now. I thought of looking at my books and see if my answers were correct. But then again, what for? Now it's just PASS or FAIL.

Check the board exam results online. Click this.

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In a few hours I shall know if I am now a professional chemist or it's "better luck next time". Yeah, yeah. Jitter, jitters!