On my last year in college, I submitted an article to a national newspaper (after I was prompted by a friend) about my college experience.  I didn't expect it to get published and I also didn't expect the negative reaction from my college.  I cried buckets of tears because of the persecution (for that is how i felt it was), regret  and the agony of uncertainty (whether or not they'd let me graduate).  BUT the most painful was the DISAPPOINTMENT I felt towards most of my mentors.  I couldn't believe that the people I looked up to could be so shallow (sorry) as to react in a very unprofessional manner.  One even dragged my family into it, saying that my parents didn't traise me well (I paraphrased her exact words).  One threatened me with libel etc., another (holding a high position) badmouthed me to her students and a lot more...In short it was a NIGHTMARE!! I went around the campus wearing shades indoors because of swollen eyes from crying...Thankfully, I graduated.  Here's the article I'm talking about and please do tell me if my mentors' reaction was justified.  Thanks!   

 

 

 My colorful lab life

First posted 00:54am (Mal time) Feb 09, 2006
By Rhodes  



Editor's Note: Published on Page A13 of the February 9, 2006 issue of the Soulcast Blog

I AM at my wits’ end. It is less than three months before my final paper is due, two months before my defense and three months before my scheduled graduation. And to make matters more nerve-racking, I am still in the preparatory phase of my experimentation.

I have not anticipated that a sackful of "gulaman" [red seaweed] would shrink to a handful when dried. After three months of hauling bags of gulaman and being the object of criticisms from people who demanded to know “What’s that smell?” I finally have my gulaman dried, ground and packed. I’m now ready to proceed to my experiment. But why does the supply of acids, vials, flasks and gas have to run out now of all times?

To be sick in these times is a nightmare. And it is a nightmare I’m experiencing now. It seems that the more I strive to meet the deadline, the more the problems I encounter.

But it isn’t just me who is complaining. It is the entire student body taking Chemistry laboratory subjects who are suffering

because the government doesn’t have enough funds to support our eager pursuit of knowledge.

My entire laboratory life, which consists of more than 26 units, has been punctuated by improvisations, substitutions and eliminations because the materials we need are unavailable while those that are at hand are either obsolete, broken or limited in quantity.

I can recall many instances when the whole class would run out of the lab screaming or panting for breath after the laboratory was filled with fumes of a life-threatening substance due to a broken fume hood or a broken exhaust fan which left us the job of sucking the fumes ourselves.

I can still recall one hilarious occasion when my instructor, in sudden panic, hurled his wet lab gown on top of a broken fume hood to stop the fumes from spreading. His effort went for naught and all he earned was a lot of ribbing from us, prompting him to walk out of our class in embarrassment. Before doing so, he had hurled the gown in some place where it was quickly forgotten. And it was only recently that it was discovered in its hiding place, already discolored and totally unusable.

I have also been the recipient of electric shock brought about by my own carelessness and the wiring of the exhaust fan that has been gnawed by mice. Friendships have also been tested and some suffered in the competition to get hold of a limited number of equipment. Now I know who among my classmates are selfish jerks who hoard all the glassware and apparatuses as well as those who are generous enough to share their use.

I have been an eyewitness to the parasitism and demonstrations of the crab mentality of my colleagues as well as my own. The parasitism manifests itself when we “forget” to buy detergents, rubber tubing, matches, wash bottles, tissue papers, test tube brushes, sponges and filter papers because aside from adding to our expenses, we can be sure that the supplies for our personal use would end up as supplies for the whole class. The crab mentality comes to the fore when we see other groups moving ahead of us in any of our experiments.

I feel ashamed to confess that I also succumbed to such weaknesses. But that was then. And now it’s just me and the long stretch before graduation. I barely have time to think of my classmates’ theses since I am too preoccupied with my own. I envy those students who will graduate without going through what I am undergoing now. I struggle to keep my head afloat in the ocean of things that I have to do because I still have several demanding subjects plus one back subject (my second take) on top of my thesis. My resources are almost depleted and so is my hope.

But as I look at the younger chemist-wannabes, a surge of pride runs through me. For they look up with awe to us seniors who have come this far.

Looking at the younger students coughing, almost choking at the fumes and fighting over the hot plates, I get misty-eyed to realize that I was not alone in this crazy world. I once was where they are now. I have survived almost four years of this mayhem, and certainly I can survive another three months. I feel my hope becoming stronger as I draw nearer to my goal. The younger students look up to me, and I cannot disappoint them. And I will not do so.

Rhodes, 21, is a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry senior at SoulCast