Memorization and Units by Eva

Memorization and Units by Eva - July 2026 Scholarship Essay

The first time I looked at a stoichiometry problem, it felt like someone had scattered numbers, symbols, and units across a page and expected me to find a hidden path through them.

Chemistry challenged me because I could not rely solely on memorization. In other subjects, such as biology, I had often been able to memorize definitions, review my notes, and recognize the correct answer on exams. Chemistry demanded something different from me. A problem might begin with grams of one substance, ask for the moles of another, and include a chemical equation that must first be balanced correctly. Missing a single coefficient or conversion factor can result in the wrong answer.

At first, I approached these problems by searching for a familiar formula. I wanted every question to match an example I had already seen. When it did not, I became frustrated. I would sometimes focus so much on getting an answer that I did not stop to ask whether the answer actually made sense.

Eventually, I realized that chemistry was teaching me how to think through uncertainty.

I began breaking each problem into smaller questions. What information was I given? What was I being asked to find? Which units did I have, and which units did I need? What relationship connected the two substances? Instead of immediately reaching for a calculator, I started mapping out the steps first. Units became a way to check my reasoning. If the units did not cancel correctly, something in my process was wrong.

That habit changed the way I handled mistakes. Before, an incorrect answer could feel like proof that I did not understand the material. Chemistry forced me to treat mistakes as evidence. I learned to return to the beginning of a problem, identify the exact step at which my reasoning changed direction, and determine why. Sometimes I had used the wrong molar mass. Other times, I had misunderstood the mole ratio or rounded too early. The important part was no longer simply knowing that I was wrong, but being able to explain how I became wrong.

This way of thinking has followed me outside chemistry. In biology, I now pay closer attention to the chain of events behind a process rather than memorizing its final outcome. Complicated biological systems become easier to approach when I examine each connection instead of trying to understand everything at once.

Chemistry also taught me to question whether a result is reasonable. A calculator will produce an answer even when the information entered is incorrect. Critical thinking involves checking assumptions, comparing the result with the original problem, and being willing to start again rather than just accepting what shows up on a screen.

I still do not find every chemistry problem easy. That is partly why the subject has been valuable to me. It removed the expectation that learning should always feel immediate. It taught me to stay with a difficult question, organize what I know, and build an answer one justified step at a time.

The greatest lesson I gained from chemistry was not a formula. It was the understanding that being challenged does not mean I am incapable. Sometimes it means I have reached the point where memorization ends, and real thinking begins.