Tuesday, July 22, 2025



Biochem: crazy hard or hardcore?

Dear Becky,

We’ll be the first to say it: We’re not dorks. We’d rather go to the dentist than study, textbooks make us cringe, and we’ve been known to attend a class or two under the influence (freshman year, we swear!). We have to admit though: The pentose phosphate shunt is pretty sexy, hemes trip us out, and metabolism is, like, pure rock and roll, baby.

To respond to what seems to be your point (it was a little hard to tell if you were down on biochem or just the tests), what did you expect? Have you not been a member of the illustrious Wesleyan Science Community for at least 1.58 years? We assume, on top of that, that you are a biology or even a molecular biology and biochemistry major. Either way, you had enough awareness of and interest in biochemistry (we applaud you for that) to take this class and you should have been quite cognizant of its rigor.

Every year, a small but ambitious army of undergraduate and graduate students set out to gain familiarity with a great volume of some of the most challenging material they will encounter, in the span of one measly semester. This incredible stress builds comradery, not competition (that’s how we became friends). If you’re feeling competitive, don’t project it on the class.

Hopefully it is not a shock to find that biochemistry tests are not meant to measure your rate of in-class sobriety (are there any upper level science classes with tests like that?), they assess how much biochemistry you know. The average on the last exam was n because, on average, the students knew n % of the taught material. What would it mean for the integrity of our institution if we handed out A’s in such a course? Be thankful that Drs. Pratt and Infante are charitable enough to offer a curve.

For those unfamiliar with the material, biochemistry, as a course, traditionally includes the chemical properties of proteins, and mechanisms of vitamins and metabolic enzymes (translation: how the body rips useful energy from sugar molecules; why the Atkins diet is bad for you; which types of exercise make you burn fat vs. sugar). That shit is crazy hard but so cool that it makes those 40’s pretty bearable (Dr. Pratt’s enthusiastic, smiling face and Australian accent help). Students of biochemistry should expect to work their hardest in return for great rewards.

If you want a test for your mother’s refrigerator, you will have to spend time in front of that dreadful textbook, and even study (lame) on top of going to class. You will also gain a deep understanding of the complex rules and patterns governing the existence of life. If you only care about getting A’s, switch your major to “Easy” and take “Intro to Easy” or something. Here, you don’t get your reward for just showing up (sober).

This is your opportunity to rise to, what we saw as, a first real life challenge. Don’t give up so easily. Even if you find that you really hate biochemistry “with the fiery passion of 10,000 suns,” it’s too late to withdraw, so make the best of it. But please don’t do it just to stick it to your neighbor.

P.S. Dr. Pratt and Dr. Infante are total party animals, so it’s okay to listen to your grandma every once in a while.

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