By Colin Gurney
An ounce of creativity, a vial of music and a beaker of knowledge combine to form a reaction Creighton University calls the Melodious Musichemical Manifestation.
Students perform themed chemistry experiments that match music from stars like Elton John and Vanilla Ice. Biochemistry and Spanish student Jacquelyn Wright, who starred as Santana’s “Black Magic Woman,” said she finds her work both in the show and in her field fascinating.
“Being able to investigate things and learn about miniscule processes in our bodies is just super awesome to me,” Wright said.
Student co-manager Clare Weber said the chemistry show sets a good example for aspiring science majors and shows them that they can work in a fun and gratifying field.
“You get to blow things up,” Weber said. “You get to change colors. You get to dance around and have fun, but also do chemistry.”
Weber said that despite the hard work and challenges that arise from working in STEM fields, people should be interested and involved in some way, no matter who they are.
The chemistry show is a Creighton tradition that was first performed in 1995. Twenty students and three faculty members helped put this show together to celebrate Creighton’s Chemistry Field Day.
The Creighton Chemistry Players will be performing this July at the Chem-Ed 2019 Conference in Chicago, Illinois.
