When I teach CHEM110B, I put this quote on my course blog. It is important for me to remember the wonder I felt about nature when I was a boy.

Last week I got to attend my first in-person meeting in eighteen months. I was in Telluride Colorado for the workshop on RNA Dynamics

Julian Lennon once said, “All disappointment is rooted in expectation.”

Lately, I’ve been struck that others don’t see me the way I see myself, or perhaps I don’t see myself the way that others see me. This has not been an epiphany, but more of a slow unveiling over the course of my career.

As new students join our groups—late this year because of COVID—these are things to keep in mind: picking impactful problems with tractable solutions.

Relatively early on in my teaching at Penn State, I realized that I could teach material as difficult as I wanted to as long as I enabled my students. For many years I taught honors introductory chemistry and students not only learned quantum numbers but they solved the Schrodinger wave equation in one dimension—something that continues to be done in this class. How did this come to pass?

My message for 2021 is to be open to that magical moment each day. Let it find you. Or better yet, be that moment for someone else. Tell somebody, “You made my day.”

I was curious about what it’s like to be a student during COVID so I gathered some data. I put the following Nudge out to my CHEM 110B class, “I want to write a piece. ‘Student Perspectives on Learning During COVID.’ Can you write me two sentences on how COVID has affected your learning—one good and one bad”. I got twenty-two responses. Here are some highlights with my thoughts at the end. I think you will find them pretty revealing.

It’s a few days before Thanksgiving and it struck me that I have a lot to be thankful for.

This month I’m pleased to team up with Lily Mawby, president of the Graduate Student Association (GSA), to bring you this message. The GSA is in its sixth year as a recognized student organization and is continually evolving.

A PhD is a marathon. It’s not the fifty yard dash. But, in the time of COVID, a semester, or even a month, can seem like a marathon. The other day at executive meeting, Dean Langkilde talked to us about burnout in the College. This can happen to anyone at any time. I wanted to share my thoughts on this subject. I’ll keep this message short and suggest a solution.

As we start the new semester, much remains uncertain. We have 40,000 new students now on campus and we are in the midst of a pandemic. The University has implemented its testing efforts and we are hoping it goes well, but none of us knows for sure.