The effects of 20.109 on enduring friendships

The story of 20.109 is about people. It is about lab partners and teaching staff and professors. It is about bonding over a [or testing our] love of science while also learning how to communicate and meeting 12 deadlines at once. It would have been a completely different experience if I didn't have Michelle as the other half of TR Purple.

I feel like everyone thought Michelle and I were crazy. You wouldn't be wrong. We are crazy. We don't make sense. We're probably exact opposites. We met during FPOP and have been friends since. It's a miracle we haven't bitten each others' heads off...well, we've gotten close, but somehow it works out.

Here are some examples of how it magically worked out:
I get my head stuck in the clouds, thinking only about big ideas and overall frameworks; Michelle inevitably pops my balloons and brings me back down to reality, asking the nitty-gritty questions that often bore me but are essential to science. This was super helpful for the project pitch.

Michelle is a procrastinator. Mostly because she wants everything to be perfect from the beginning, which is a pretty daunting task. Procrastinating stresses me out. I have to do everything early. I also am a huge fan of outlining, then filling in with details. This worked out perfectly in some of our tag-team reports. For Mod1, I literally did my half before Michelle even touched it. For the project pitch, I outlined all the slides and Michelle added her details. Of course, there was also those times I had to sit next to her and make sure she did her work, but you know, whatever works.

I am all about efficiency. Sometimes to the point that I miss things. Michelle catches me. Sometimes Michelle thinks we have to repeat things. Then I tell her she's silly and we power forward. Sometimes we both just miss things and yell at each other. That's okay too. Sometimes we spray each other with EtOH. That's also okay too. Strangely enough, I think we have over 6 years of combined lab experience, but we always end up leaving last from the lab. Oh well.

Anyway, it's been great. We told each other at the beginning of the semester that we wouldn't be lab partners because it would be a [poop]show, but I guess we've endured. Thus, our friendship has survived 20.109. I hope Michelle reads this and hates me for writing all of this but also secretly appreciates it.

Yay for 20.109. Yay to old friends and new ones. Yay to not being good at memes. Yay to finishing blog posts!