the silent speaks (or writes.)

6.06.2005

research(er's) ranting

ah, research - the hope of the country's future, commonly said by ap teachers.. a subject which demands a hell lot of your time (inclusive of vacation) in order to produce an organized stack of papers containing information about some new invention and an actual product, of course. a compulsory project for one who wants to graduate from a four-year high school course.

do i need to elaborate?

first, i get a call from the group leader, telling me to go to school to help work on the project. the next morning we were briefed on what was the project all about - basically about a exquisitely delicious mollusk, named abalone, in which we try to extract an antibacterial substance. we were supervised by a teacher who we first met back at our research defense - apparently he was acquired by the principal. hours later we had to travel an hour to a dost laboratory (as part of the project has been done already.) then we head back to school, and eventually home. what my parents only knew was the project refresher course, nothing else. all for a day's worth.

next day i was tasked to prepare materials in the school's chemistry lab for further use. then i was sent out to but six kilograms of calcium chloride, to be used for lyophilization (a complicated process, of course), alone. and the place is nowhere near the school, a chemical shop called alyson's. not knowing really where to go, i was forced to walk half of araneta avenue, arrived at a glori's store - part of the teacher's instruction. and i was not looking for the place yet... strategically near a four-way intersection, i had to walk on all four ways before i found out where it really was located - which was pointing back to where i started. and another thing, this place really isn't that noticeable. good thing on the way back i was able to take a jeep - mind you, six kilograms of powder is not light package. we departed from school about 11 am, i got back three hours later. also instructed to do some homogenization thing, i had to prepare the materials in the chemistry lab, a school length's walk from the principal's office, where most of the essentials were. ruefully i had to make about seven trips back and forth to transfer all the materials (i was still alone) which included a full five-gallon container of deionized water, two chemical reagents and a whole lot of expensive lab glassware. next thing to do was preparing the specimen for the process, in which i performed an actual mutilation of the frozen mollusks. good thing only was that the teacher told me thru text that i wasn't supposed to homogenize yet, which saved a lot of time. and i haven't cleaned that laboratory yet, still covered all around with dust. guys, it's just day 2...

a week later, after a brief absence due to family matters, we went to up diliman to meet a dr. montano who knew a lot about - well, a lot. the number of students in that so-called building was twelve, all responding to grueling research duty's call. later we also passed through up's marine science institute (i believe some of the equipment we need were there...) before we dispersed into different directions, we (i and the leader) had to go to another research facility down south in alabang to do some processing. upon arriving we found out that the substance is not yet ready for use and has to wait for a day. so three hours of travel and a hunder pesos of transportation fare torn to shreds. we also learned that the teacher knew about the substance's current status because of his contact there in the lab, so he could have told us, and spare us the trouble, right? then the school camera was handed to me, to be delivered to a drop-zone where a student (actually a classmate) will be waiting. unfortunately, there was no drop zone and my classmate seemed to be nowhere.

maybe you should know more about the teacher. we first met him during our last research defense, as he was one of three... er, torturers. during our defense the other two walked out, leaving him alone to rant about certain errors in the paper and a whole lot of suggestions and telephone numbers. next thing we knew, he was our consultant for the whole thing. later we found out that he was going to be our research teacher for the coming school year. a bit tall and plump, the guy is quite grumpy, a word which i exceptionally find befitting for his personality. believe me, it's all in the eyes (and the big round eyebags as well). has a strange work ethic too; occasionally the guy tells you to arrive seven o'clock am at school, then shows up there two hours later, and of course you wait that long because you simply don't know what to do... and you'll have to wait for him no matter what. he likes to do that, say... and he seemingly enjoys directing people to go somewhere for something while the clueless student asks for clear directions regarding how to go there - which he rarely does (based on experience..) basically he wants us to prioritize research over anything else, and when i say anything, i mean ANYTHING, like your house or your upcat review. during one of his rant sessions he asked us "am i demanding?" and all of us out there were baring our teeth from saying "hell yes!" until someone said "sir it's part of the job..." which settled things...

hey, is this entry long? i haven't written nothing yet... and i'll continue doing so when the research paperwork is done, so to speak. as the research buff says, priorities first...

the silent spoke up on 20:11

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