With the highly interdisciplinary nature of biochemistry, and the diverse range of students taking introductory biochemistry courses, it can be difficult to incorporate authentic applications of course content that appeal broadly to students. However, it is important to engage students' learning at the affective level. One mode to achieve this goal is by incorporating assignments that support students in identifying the relevance of course content and the skills they are learning. In this study we incorporated an assignment that placed students in the role of science communicators, where they attended a research seminar and then wrote a summary of the research, connecting it to course content. We interviewed students about their experiences with the assignment to identify the ways in which it appealed to them affectively and influenced their perceived learning. Our results indicate that both components supported students to identify the relevance of biochemistry on a personal and societal level, as well as supported students' perceived understanding of biochemistry concepts. Thus, incorporating assignments that encourage students to build their own connections with biochemistry content can be beneficial to their affective learning.