Getting an email from a former student like this (former student’s name and current place of work removed):

Dr. Gilbert,

My name is Former Student. I’m not sure if you remember me, but I was a  Gen. Chem student of yours about 4 or 5 years ago at Linfield. I won’t exaggerate when I say that Gen Chem was the proudest “C” I ever earned. Your class was tough and you and Dr. Reinert both had high expectations of us. At the time, I didn’t truly understand what its application in my future would mean,  only that i needed it for the next step in my education. Well, college has been over for a few years now and looking back, Gen Chem might have been the most useful and applicable course I took at Linfield. It wasn’t just the stoichiometry and gas laws; It was the way you taught us to analyze, think, and problem solve. Also, no 8am lecture is complete without kegs of “whoop ass” (one of my favorites, by the way). So, thanks for the mind molding and development of my scientific thought processes! These days I’m working as a RN in a Transplant Intensive Care Unit at A Big University Hospital here in a large city on the east coast. We admit highly unstable liver, kidney, and small bowel transplants from the operating
room in hopes of keeping them alive and providing a better quality of life for these chronically ill people. As a nurse, my job is essentially managing and applying a variety of different pharmocological therapies and treatments based on laboratory values and patient assessments. I analyze results of arterial blood gases and a multitude of other tests to prompt the physician when acid/base disturbances and electrolyte imbalances occur. Yesterday, as an example, I administered 3, 50 meq ampules of NaHCO3 to correct a patient in a metabolic acidosis with a pH of 7.05. How cool is that?
Chemistry in action…

If you have pre-nursing students (or any students really) who are wondering why they have to take general chemistry, this guy does a great job of stating why.  It ain’t really the chemistry you’re learning – it’s the analytical and critical thinking that are important, and that’s good for whatever you want to do.  Of course it probably helps that this student has been working in the real world for a while.  That tends to put many things into perspective.  Which is why I’ve avoided it for as long as possible!  Feel free to pass this on to any students who you think might need to read it.