Year 3 - As we go on ... We remember ...
In the previous post, we ended talking about the workload we were going to face in the coming final year. We had heard how seniors complained about juggling Final Year Project (FYP) with the curriculum, and often than not, we saw many all stressed out. Despite those woes, we also witnessed their fruits of success during their Graduation after they had gone through piles and piles of shit.
For me, everything was well thought out for. I came back from Perth and went back to begin my final year just 2 days later. My FYP was already decided - I joined Aric and Wayne in Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) situated in SGH under our supervisor named Dr. Louis Tong. While the rest were eagerly waiting to ballot for the projects, we were already discussing how we would go about doing the project. A long discussion was held with Dr. Tong as he tried to get me in-synch with what they had been, and will be doing. As I had no prior knowledge on the topic, it was really tough for me to pick up both the skills and theories. It was decided in the end that I would take charge of the a certain part of the project, while Aric and Wayne were given different roles which they were already trained at performing, spreading out the workload so we would have more time for our respective commitments.
From here on, you will realise that the most part of this post will be about FYPs. Of course, I will be inserting some interesting happenings if I manage to remember as I continue =D.
As for our other class/coursemates, they went on for a gruelling balloting process, which I heard turned quite ugly as people cheated in the process and people not getting their choices of project. In the end, I believe some left with disappointment, but eventually made terms with reality and moved on. For our clique, Fiona, Nicholas and Jun Rong had already finished the wet work during their ITP, so they were left with only the report to write, and also coordinate with TTSH people if I am not wrong.
Then there were two other groups - 1) Andy, Shirley, Sarah and Janet, 2) Johnny, Madeline and Ruo Ting. Both groups required volunteers to finish certain amount of food within a period of time, of which later blood had to be taken in 2 different ways for analyses. Group 1 performed fingerpricks for pre-experiment recordings, followed by venepunctures. I participated in both experiments, but was later rejected by group 1 because I was poked a total of 9 times on my first appointment, with only successful takings at 1 or 2 time points, HAHA. My visible and not-so-visible veins were playing hide and seek with them, and it was quite an (painful =X) experience to be poked so many times on both arms. They were not to be blamed, 'cause I was one of the first few volunteers and they were not yet proficient in the technique. Later, I heard they improved so much and became expert venepuncture-rs.
As for the other group, we volunteers were instructed to finish our food within the designated time, after which blood glucose levels were taken from blood after the fingerpricks with a glucometer. I was given 3 types of chocolates - normal chocolate, dark chocolate and 1 more I can't remember. Or was I only given 2 types? Haha. Their main purpose was to examine the glycaemic index of various food types, including different forms of carbohydrates such as grains, rice and pasta.
I must say time spent during these experiments were pretty fun, because not only we got free food, we spent some crazy time in the laboratory. As year 3s, we certainly were given the privilege in terms of lab usage. Especially having those bunch of people in the clique, we would have fun anywhere we go, be it small talks, or playing too-too train in the lab with lab chairs. Although I was, and never am, a fan of too-too train, their actions and gestures never failed to make my day during boring lab sessions.
Talking about these people's FYPs, I would regularly bring my laptop there to spend my time while waiting for my turn. One of the reasons why I brought it along instead of just reading a book was because, with the convenience of cleaning equipment in the lab, I could give my laptop a good clean with bacillols (70% alcohol) and kimwipes. Haha!! *I suppose no lecturers or SP staff will read this =X.
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Now I will sidetrack from the main assignment we had for the Academic Year. Apart from FYPs, in sem 1, we were challenged with various assignments as well, and one was a class report for our Lab Safety and Management module. I am sure some of us still remember the frustration we faced during that period of time, because of those confusions and disagreements inbetween. During that period, we were always caught up with arguments, but eventually we pulled through and although our result was understandably not as satisfactory, we were, as a united class, glad it was over.
That assignment was not as comparable as this coming one, which drove many of us to the wall, even murderous (anyone putting up their hands and joining me? Haha). This lecturer was so into thinking about himself and himself only that he jeopardized his authority over the module and made us complete unrelevant assignment. Other than those essays that we had to write, which their weightages were not high, this particular one weighed the most in the module, and not the easiest. Wanna know what is it? It starts with the letter 'G'.
Personally I feel that the lecturer was a nice person, even as a lecturer as his teaching method was different and refreshing. However, he was acting much like a jerk in making us do that cyber-magazine, which we wouldn't mind doing if we did not have so much to do and if it was not included as part of our ICAs. As we finally finished that, some of us were given unjustified grades, and i felt it unfair for these people who put in lots of effort for this. Willy in particular, who tried to confront him over this but failed terribly. HAHA!
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I actually left this out the previous post, but we did have our bi-annual chalet trips the previous year as well. Without exception, we had it for our final year as well, though one in particular wasn't exactly pleasant and left many unhappy. Anyway, we have all gotten over it so it wasn't an issue and we were back to good o' classmates again.
Our final one was as usual - BBQs, mahjongs, and also our first visit to Wild Wild Wet. It was so much fun and I enjoyed myself, a lot.
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Back to FYP. My group with Aric and Wayne wasn't the easiest. The main problem being the place we carried our laboratory work was located in SERI itself, meaning we had to travel to Outram Park to continue our project. Because we had lessons on weekdays, we had to sacrifice weekends even to do extra work. For that, I quitted my Fort Siloso job and picked up tuition because that way, I could still earn enough pocket money while committing fully on schoolwork and FYP.
Other than FYP, we were told by Dr. Tong to participate in their weekly Journal Club. That's when each of us would be given a journal to read and sort of review. During Journal Club, the scheduled person would present the paper to the rest of the team in the laboratory. As Dr. Tong is such a sharp person, and very smart, he never failed to post tough questions that made us doubt ourselves, and the paper. He is always so into details and because he habours vast knowledge and experience in the research field, he was able to pick out doubtful results just by looking at them and pointing them out to us. As much as I hated to do this Journal Club thing-y, I must thank him because it sort of prepared us for our FYP Presentation later, giving us more confidence in presenting our results to a group of lecturers who had done their Post-Grad projects, or are doing currently.
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Meanwhile, we did have our usual meet-ups, but in the most unusual ways. We found new activities to do together as a clique, such as conquering the Southern Ridges and our first Potluck for Sarah's 19th Birthday Celebration. We also had steamboats at our favourite venue (right Janet?!) and I invited a truckload full of people to my place for CNY celebration. We celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival too, and that's just how random we are =D.
The biggest event of the year must be our AD&D. Just refer to my blogpost in December 2008 for some other details. Haha! That night was definitely unforgettable, other than the karaoke session through the night. LOL.
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Zooming back to the final hurdle in our FYP, we were all rushing out our reports before the deadline. Data to collate, results to analyze, discussions to discuss, and words to type. All of us, not restricting to my group only, had to read and re-read what we'd written, followed by multiple editions to make it more scientific and presentable. For our group, we did not, in the end, get desirable results, but we were able to create magic out of nothing, wrote the best ever report I have ever written throughout my 3 years in Poly, presented like I had never before, and scored an A for it. I was delighted to have gotten that kind of result, though a tiny bit of me was disappointed at not being nominated for the Distinction round. Still, I am grateful to all the assistance I had from Dr. Tong, Shel Hwa the assistant in SERI who is currently doing her Ph.D studies in New Zealand, Mr. Fraser for some comments on our report and the two other group mates, most importantly =D.
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Final Semestral Exams. Our last, ever examination in Singapore Polytechnic. It all ended on the 24th February 2009, when we sat for our ... was it Haematology II paper??? Haha. After that paper, we took a large group photo, many of us looking relieved and happy, for it's all finally come to an end. Well, the full-stop to our Poly days is not yet penned, until we have our Graduation Ceremony. Still, we were all glad, though we didn't bear to part with those days ...
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Time passes so quickly during those days, that we have no time to look back at what we have done until this moment when we can sit in front of our computers and reflect. Over the past 3 years, I have changed, not just physically, but mentally as well. I never knew I can become the person I am today, much thanks to these people I met during my 3 years. As I continue to write, many things in the clique are continuing to happen, and I will continue to anticipate more outings and gatherings that will come in the future.
As for now, I will never forget those times we ate, drank, laughed, stressed, quarreled, disagreed, made merry, mahjong-ed, had fun, acted retards, posed for silly pictures, made nicknames for one another, shared our unhappiness and happiness, and so so so many other things that were deeply etched in every single one of us. Thank you for these memories, and although we will not see each other that often in the future, this part of my life will always be one of the happiest and eventful ones I will ever, ever have. I am truly grateful to have chosen to come here instead of elsewhere, where I might not have met you wonderful things =D.
And as our lives change, come whatever, we will still be ... clique forever =D.
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