I went back to Symmetry to say my last goodbyes today since I didn’t get a chance to last Tuesday. It was bitter sweet! I am excited for my next journey but will definitely miss the people I have worked with and come to call my friends.
Where should I begin about my experience at Symmetry Biosciences. It has been amazing! Day 1 was scary! The thought of doing a column purification, doing my own reactions or anything chemistry related made me nervous. The only word that seemed familiar to me was TLC (Thin Layer Chromatography). Of which I didn’t even know the correct technique but just remembered a technique called TLC from Organic Lab in 2010. I had so much to learn and such little time to perfect it all.
Everyone at Symmetry Biosciences has been so helpful and so patient. There have been plenty of times when the scientists were probably tired of my silly questions or couldn’t believe I asked a certain question! The first couple of days were the hardest. After that, I quickly picked up many of the techniques. By the end of my 4th day, I was purifying 2 compounds simultaneously and cooking up 100+ gram scale reactions! While doing a column is tedious and needs a lot of patience, successfully purifying a compound of the other impurities definitely made me feel accomplished!
After I perfected column purification, I was given the opportunity to work on some chemistry! These reactions were fun and exciting. Kept me on my feet. I always felt like a “Mad Scientist” while cooking up the reactions!
I want to send out special thanks to all the scientists who I worked with!
Dr. Amin– Thank you for giving me the opportunity to work in your company and teaching me so much!
Shahid– Thank you for being patient with me. Especially when it comes to maintenance of equipment and trying to find things! I would not have been able to survive my first few days without your help!
Mahendra– Thank you for answering all my Why questions and teaching me the easier way to do things or at least understanding them! TLC and columns made a lot more sense after your explanations! I will miss our joking around and Tea Time!! Good luck with your baby girl!
Praveen– We started working at the company together and we both became familiar with the lab together. I loved your jokes and our “discussions” on life, education and women’s rights! Thank you for inviting me to your home and introducing me to your family!
Once again, Thank you Symmetry Biosciences. You were my first job out of college and I will always have a special place for you and the people I worked with!
Dear Chemists,
Don’t forget me at Tea Time!! 😀
Cooking up a reaction!
Collecting fractions from a column! It’s PINK!
Collected fractions!
Symmetry Biosciences Chemists. Left–>Right: Shahid, Praveen, Mahendra, Tezin (Me)
~Cell-ebraTez
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