H-O-T-O-R-G-O — You Can Take It Hot Orgo!

An assignment about the SN2 reaction, for example, comes coupled with Majireck’s take on Lil Nas X’s smash hit Old Town Road:

“I’m gonna take this course down the Orgo road
I’m gonna cry ‘til I can’t no more
I got the bromine in the back
SN2 attack
Lab coat matte black
Got the gloves that’s black to match
Synthesis on course, ha
Twenty carbon source
Cyclohexane valley
With a steric hindrance force, now.”

These textual serenades brighten students’ moods in the dire situation of a new assignment. “Normally, opening emails related to Organic Chemistry homework would be the pit of doom,” said chemistry major Andrew Hohmann ’26. “However, with Max’s emails, even though I am reading argumentatively bad news, I read it with a smile on my face.”

“My hope is that when people hear that song from now on, it’s permanently ruined for them, but in a fun way!”

Majireck describes his song parodies as a “creative medium” of sorts. Using a Mad Libs-style approach, he strikes a delicate balance to preserve the rhythm and feeling of the original song with his chemistry lyrics. Some parodies are requested by students, while others come to him as he listens to the radio.

“When Hot To Go became popular, my brain immediately ruined it with Hot Orgo,” Majireck said. His lyrics read:

“Do you like this study sheet? (na-na-na-na, na)
I made it so you’d work with me (Na+, Na+, Na+, Na+, Na+)
Sandbath like a hundred 99 degrees (na-na-na-na, na)
When you’re doing lab with me, doing lab with me
H-O-T-O-R-G-O
C13 says O-C-O
Snap and clap and dot your O’s
Dance it out, you’re hot Orgo.”

Majireck attributes much of the whimsy of his song parodies to their simplicity. “Part of the secret sauce is that I don’t overproduce it. It’s text in an email,” he said. “So, when you’re reading it, you have to hear it in your head and sync it with the cadence of the song. My hope is that when people hear that song from now on, it’s permanently ruined for them, but in a fun way!”

“I realized that breaking up the class with some good innocent fun is actually an effective teaching method.”

Beyond his anthemic emails, Majireck brings humor into the classroom. “I go on fun little tangents here and there in class, telling them the background about a chemical or whether or not I’ve spilled it on myself before,” he said. “Then I realized, these are mini brain breaks. There are studies that show if you give a lecture on any topic, your attention span wanes over time, but if you take a one-minute pause for anything, focus and attention spikes back up. I realized that breaking up the class with some good innocent fun is actually an effective teaching method.”

Despite all the fun Majireck infuses into his Organic Chemistry class, he still recognizes that at the end of the day, it is still an incredibly difficult course for most students. As often as he cracks a joke or sends a silly email, he also reminds students, “It is a struggle. It is hard. And that’s okay.”