I’ve met many people who have asked me why I was so interested in Biochemistry. This reason is actually a long story because my passion started from a quite young age(1rst Grade).

I was touring around my school on Halloween because our school had hosted annual Halloween carnivals every year, and students were able to venture through spider webs, zombie-filled hallways, and receive sweets and chocolates from their disguised teachers. I remember always competing with my brother to see who had collected more candy, and I had finally won our “contest” in a few years. I was super glad that I finally beat my brother, but I was flabbergasted by my friend’s barrel-o-slime toy that she had collected during the trick-or-treat. She did allow me to play with her slime, but when I returned back home, my hands felt empty without her slime. I begged my mother to buy me the same toy, but we couldn’t find any barrel-o-slimes in the toy stores in our neighborhood.

I was, then, motivated to make my own slime. A toy that I could always make only if I was prepared with the sufficient amount of right ingredients. I, first, experimented with flour and water, which produced a clay. However, that clay was not the consistency my fingers missed slipping, and it was easily prone with mold.

I did a bit of research on Youtube, and there was this one video titled “How to make Nickelodeon Slime with only two ingredients!”. It really interested me, and I followed their recipe: adding vinegar and baking soda into a bottle and shaking the bottle vigorously. I honestly still don’t understand how that becomes a goo, because I remember that bottle exploded quite violently..

And then, an idea popped into my mind. I needed a substance that would be thick and sticky enough to be the base of the slime, and an activator that would bind the sticky solution into a more solid form. For a year or so, I kept experimenting with shampoo and salt, which I got in huge trouble later by my mother for wasting so much shampoo and salt. But my progress was getting closer to the wanted result! The shampoo slime was actually pokable, it was jiggly, and it was even fragrant. However, I wasn’t able to grip the slime and pick it up. This was the major problem of this slime.

I did a bit more research on Youtube, and found another video that required glue and borax. However, I couldn’t find the exact same company for Borax in my country, or even on online shopping. I also heard that kids were getting third-degree burns from the use of borax for their slime solution. Therefore, I was looking for a safer and accessible alternative, which I came across lens solution and baking soda. Finally! I was able to create a slime that I was able to customize and even grab in my hands.

I continued making slime for a few more years.. I also created a slime account on Instagram(@slimealienz if you’re interested :)) and a Youtube channel, which I post other content too!

And during my years of trial and error with bottles of glue, lens solution and baking soda, I gradually realized I really enjoy experimenting. I also became really interested in Biology after taking an Honors Biology class last year with a very amazing teacher! He taught really well by sharing relatable stories so that we would be able to understand the content much more easily.. His jokes were really funny too, which made Biology class much more interesting than I had originally expected it to go.

So, following my Biology class and my passion in slime, I came to a conclusion that I’m interested in Biochemistry! I want to major Biochemistry because I originally wanted to create suits/dresses to wear in outer space without needing a spacesuit. My dreams that I’m having currently are quite big: one of them is winning a Nobel Prize for a discovery in new medicine. I want to create a medicine that’ll actually be eco-friendly and cure currently-untreatable diseases like Alzheimer’s or other unfortunate disorders. This was a very long story, but this is eventually the story of how I became interested in Biochemistry.

-Joanna Kim, August 26th, 2020, 4:23 PM KST