OliviaJames
New member
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2026
- Messages
- 13
I've been staring at my laptop screen for four hours, and I swear the mitochondria is starting to look like it's mocking me. The assignment sounds simple enough—just a 500 word essay explaining the process of cellular respiration for my intro bio class. Simple, right? Wrong. The problem is that I'm a pre-med student, which means my brain is wired to memorize every single tiny detail. I want to explain the electron transport chain in all its glorious complexity, I want to dive deep into the Krebs cycle, I want to mention every enzyme involved. But I can't. I have to condense this massive, beautiful, complicated process into 500 measly words. It's like being asked to summarize the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy on a post-it note. 
My roommate, who's an art major, just doesn't get it. She keeps saying "just write what you know" and goes back to sketching. But what I know could fill a textbook! I've spent hours trying to decide what to cut. Do I skip the detailed explanation of glycolysis? Do I assume the reader already knows what ATP is? Every time I delete a sentence, I feel like I'm betraying the science. And the worst part? This isn't even for a grade that counts that much. It's just a "check for understanding" assignment. But my perfectionist brain refuses to let me submit something that feels incomplete. I've already rewritten the introduction three times. The first version was too technical, the second was too simplistic, and the third somehow managed to be both at the same time. I need advice from fellow science students who have mastered the art of the short essay. How do you balance accuracy with conciseness? How do you decide what's essential and what's just showing off? I'm genuinely considering just writing about the history of the mitochondrion instead, at least that would be easier to limit. Send caffeine and good vibes, I'm going back into the trenches.
My roommate, who's an art major, just doesn't get it. She keeps saying "just write what you know" and goes back to sketching. But what I know could fill a textbook! I've spent hours trying to decide what to cut. Do I skip the detailed explanation of glycolysis? Do I assume the reader already knows what ATP is? Every time I delete a sentence, I feel like I'm betraying the science. And the worst part? This isn't even for a grade that counts that much. It's just a "check for understanding" assignment. But my perfectionist brain refuses to let me submit something that feels incomplete. I've already rewritten the introduction three times. The first version was too technical, the second was too simplistic, and the third somehow managed to be both at the same time. I need advice from fellow science students who have mastered the art of the short essay. How do you balance accuracy with conciseness? How do you decide what's essential and what's just showing off? I'm genuinely considering just writing about the history of the mitochondrion instead, at least that would be easier to limit. Send caffeine and good vibes, I'm going back into the trenches.
