Oh well, it has been a solid busy year for me. Going back to school at 30 is weird, but refreshing at the same time. Juggling works, side projects, and school tasks has been a big deal. In the past few months, I felt like I was on the verge of burnout every other week.

I just want to look back at every subject I took throughout the year.

Term 01 | Sep 2023

General Competences 1 | Final Grade: 9
- Laboratory calculation 1a | 9.3
- Mathematics 1a | 9.0
- Professional Skills | V (passed)

General Practical Skills 1 | Final Grade: 9
- Practical | V
- IPS | V
- Safety | 8.5

General Theory 1 | Final Grade: 8
- Biology & Medical 1a | 7.0
- Chemistry 1a | 9.6

In the Netherlands, the full score is 10, and you usually need 5.5 to pass a subject.

The first two terms felt pretty much like a refresh of memory of high school chemistry classes. The goal was familiarise ourselves with the subjects, and more importantly, knowing our ways in the lab.

Term 02 | November 2023

General Competences 2 | Final Grade: 10
- Laboratory calculation 1b | 9.8
- Mathematics 1b | 10.0
- Professional Skills | V

General Practical Skills 2 | Final Grade: 9
- Practical | 9.0
- IPS | V
- Presentation | 9.0

General Theory 2 | Final Grade: 8
- Biology & Medical 1b | 7.2
- Chemistry 1b | 9.3

For each term, I usually spared one week before the exams for preparation. For more memory-intensive subjects like biology, I tend (wish) to study a bit earlier to get more repetition.

Term 03 | January 2024

Theme Chemical Euqilibria and Analytical Chemistry

General Chemistry Practical | Final Grade: 8
- Practical performance | 8.2
- Measurement reports | 8.1

General Chemistry Knowledge | Final Grade: 10
- Thermodynamics | 10
- General Chemistry | 9.3
- Mathematics 1c | 10

General Chemistry Project | Final Grade: 8
- Theme report: Results analysis | 8.1
- IPS, Poster, Assignment Chromatography, LPO Professional Skills 3, Professionalization | V

I found myself doing better at subjects that require more understanding and reasoning (like Math, Thermodynamics…etc) rather than memorising (Biology).

Term 04 | April 2024

Theme Separation and Purification: Organic Chemistry and Polymer Chemistry

Practical | Final Grade: 8
- Practical performance | 8.8
- Measurement reports | 7.6

Knowledge | Final Grade: 9
- Polymers | 8.9
- Organic Structures and Bonds | 8.5
- Physics | V

Project | Final Grade: 9
- Theme test | 9.6
- IPS, Advice presentation | V
- Research plan | 8.0

I was really busy in term 4 with all the other things happening in my life. And I literally started to study three days before the exams. I’m happy it turned out alright.

In total, I earned 60 credits, with a weighted average of 8.700.