Chapter Text
This isn't really necessary to read, but I'm saying it anyway for legal deniability and also because I feel like it should be said.
In my sophomore year, I took honors biology at my high school. I was 15. At some point during the year, we were assigned to read an article called "Bonding with the Tutor: How to Stick Together in Chemistry" by William Lee and Kevin M. Benney. The article is for public use as a teaching tool, and aims to create an accessible way to learn about how elements bond, and specifically ties itself to how Alzheimer's works in order to show the application of the learning.
When, as a 15-year-old, I read this, I did not understand much about science communication, and ruthlessly mocked this article for its writing. I left sophomore year with a shocking 89, and did a short form of summer school to bring myself up to a 94. I made fun of the name of the article, comparing it to a trashy fanfiction name, further spurred by the prose of the article, which seemed to desperately avoid using the word "said", substituting it with synonyms that caused me to speak poorly upon it.
And thus, this fanfiction was born. Using the article itself as my springboard, I launched myself into creating this piece, which I have recently unearthed again by digging through my older documents and clearing my storage.
The link I have provided was tricky to track down, as its domain had been changed since I had last linked it on the google document this work lives in. However, in finding the article again, I had trouble. I had copied down only the link to the original article, and the document was titled "Bonding with the Tutor", which, surely, was some satire that I had come up with as a 15 year old, and not the true name of the article. I was wrong. The answer stared me in the face the entire time, and I ignored it, at my whit's end trying to find something I knew nothing about. Eventually, I found it. And with it, the names of the authors, of which I hold great respect for. Their work obviously had an impact on me, and I am sure many other students as well. I can only imagine the amount of teachers who found this article, or who have been using it for a few years, and finding it helpful if not a little silly to use for their students.
And, while this article serves as the first chapter of this fanfiction, I feel it would be unethical of me to copy it directly onto Ao3. Therefore, I have linked it below. I understand that this may make it more difficult for my work to be accessible for new readers, but I don't feel very strongly about this work I made forever ago, and feel this is the best approach. It does not have much to do with the actual paper, and any information you need is provided in my own writing in the next chapter.
https://www.nsta.org/ncss-case-study/bonding-tutor
Thank you.