uncles

two uncles, referred to as 'uncle C & uncle I' by J & me, made a difference to our (& countless other students') undergrad life.

uncle C = "what have you learnt today?" (even if it was ~7am in e morning)
uncle I = "what questions have you asked?"

uncle C let me into SPS, which was pioneered by uncle I & him + another prof.
uncle I gave J & I a vacation job in his lab, which was followed by a half-year project, & allowed me to audit his honours year class in symbiology.

in SPS, I met others who loved Science, got addicted to Moorhuhn, learnt to be a 'professional end-user' of linux, got inspired by both seniors & juniors, hopefully inspired a few others too, planned how to go to Mars, & learnt something about how to do Science & communicate Science.

in uncle I's lab, J & I spent our vacation running glutamate & ammonia assays, washing Misgurnus (weatherloach), changing fishtank water for toadfish (Opsanus), catching Monopterus eels for ammonia tolerance experiments, (another J & me) catching 14 African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) about e size of my entire arm, washing & drying glassware & even yellow & blue tips, & learnt something about how to do Science.

uncle C & uncle I became e 2 'wise men' whom J & I consulted when making major decisions concerning our academic life e.g. choosing future labs & courses, & when battling e university admin. they were not 'answer dispensers' - we first had to present our 'cases' & dissection of available options & their respective pros & cons, & then they would usually respond by throwing us back a question. uncle I would also offer us extremely frank opinions & share lessons drawn from his years of experience.

J & I joined e university at a time when e faculty was introducing academic mentorship, where undergrad students were matched to a faculty mentor. not sure if it ever took off? many students didn't feel that having an academic mentor mattered, while many of those who did & tried to contact their mentors encountered unresponsive profs who didn't see any point in spending time on students who were not slaving on projects for them. guess J & I were really lucky =)

a quote from uncle I:

"Between medicine and biology, I decided to pursue the latter when I was in America. Studying biology provides me with an understanding of my own place in the scheme of nature, and to appreciate the diversity of life and the interrelations of all creatures. It also provides me with an understanding of the human body, its structure and function, and the biological basis of many of the problems and procedures in medicine, public health, agriculture and conservation. At the same time, I learnt to appreciate the beauty, drama, and tragedy of the living world. Through the study of biology, I developed an understanding of the nature of scientific inquiry. After joining [insert name of world class-wannabe varsity], I have been researching on the biochemical adaptation of several local organisms. A unique feature of biology is regionalism. Chemistry and physics, for example, are almost universal. However, the flora and fauna of Singapore do not resemble those of America or Europe. Many local organisms, e.g. mudskippers, provide me with the opportunity to discover unique phenomena in nature. When I look back, I believe the decision I made to study biology is a correct one."

(yar 7 years liao & people are still questioning my choice of Science over Medicine....)

[ filed under: thewonderingstraycat + labrat ]