“Pagod na Ako!”: The Usual THESIS Mantra

Everyone’s busy with their thesis.

I read of facebook status updating the whole world of the development in their research. Uhm, most of the time it’s more of a negative update like asking the world what’s wrong about his study, telling everyone that he’s having a hard time finding the best spread of cells, or simply finding encouragement to pursue his timetable in the cyberspace. Even in text messaging, thesis blues aren’t different from that of in facebook. Melodramatic messages are often sent to me by a friend and my usual response is a gloomy smile.

The Research Room is probably the busiest place in the department. Graduating students come and go every single day, trying to make a difference in their study. I should confess that one reason why I abhor lab research is sharing the actual research room with others. I’m more comfortable working seeing less people. JBut well, they seem not to have any choice but to share that very small room, the 2^nd smallest room in the department next to Microlab Room, to everyone conducting closely similar study.

Some are worth of commendation, few deserve a round of applause, and some deserve public humiliation.

Jhonna and Raul spend their Christmas away from home. Their research is probably one of most interesting research this year. Jhonna is conducting a study on micronucleus formation in drivers and non-drivers in Iligan City whereas Raul is doing karyotype of a suspected new anuran species recorded from the Agusan Marsh. Their methodology is one of the most tiring and time-requiring. They spend much of their time in research room with their eyes on the eyepiece of the microscope. In terms of significance, the results of their study are expected to change the course of scientific history and are believed to change the world known to mankind. Talk about revolutionary scientists in the 21^st century with astonishing research ideas. Echoslang! With that kind of sacrifice to jump start their research and to actually have a significant progress, these two young researchers are worth of commendations.

There is this group under similar advisorship who started planning and doing their research earliest than anyone else. They started getting their samples right after the enrolment for the second semester. All under Dr. Sherwin Nacua, these students are one of the always ahead-of-the-rest researchers. Hafsah’s study on an introduced fish in Lake Lanao would give some light on evolution of this species. Until now, I can’t remember the scientific name of her fish, I even find it difficult reading it aloud. The assumption in her study is Lake Lanao has a different environment from that of Lake Mainit where the species were originally from, and this difference has resulted to the evolution of the species. Yeah, I know evolution works the slowest. The fish is said to be introduced in early 1970’s or 80’s (I’m not sure), three decades have already produced several generations and there might be slight evidences of evolution already. Well see this once she shares her result in February. The advisees of Sir Nacua deserve a round of applause for starting their research early.

And we’re down to the lazy ones, the one who started just now, or just a week ago. Disclaimer: Uhm, I’m not becoming bitter. I remember when someone in my MOR class (Bio 198) said that she plans of conducting her study on January. Sir D reacted saying that by that time, all of us should be done on data gathering and should be writing already our actual theses. Truth is some of us are just fond of mamayana habit. I think, no one has ever evaded from this habit. In some instances, we become so engrossed into something that we actually forget our priorities, our things-to-do. Doing your research late has some drawbacks. One is what if the result you’d like to observe didn’t appear after nth trials, then you suddenly realize that it’s March and you’ve got no enough time to think of another research problem. The best remedy is to not to graduate on April, which none of us would like to resort on. This people deserve public humiliation to remind them of their priorities. Hahah! I’m just kidding. These people need heart-to-heart talk to uplift their spirit. :D

Our thesis would be our final ticket to finally be out of our department that accommodated us for four long happy years. This is our final ticket to finally say goodbye to our professors who are very consistent in giving hard exams. Along with our final paper are the signs of our perseverance, our ups and downs, our frustrations, and our triumphs. Most of us will be writing a heart-breaking acknowledgement, thanking everyone who’s been part of our journey in school and in life, mentioning every single person that come across into our minds the time we start to press the keys, flooding it with good words. Yes, this has always been part of thesis-writing. Try reading the theses in the library, you’ll read of long thank you’s.

Whether we’d genuinely like to conduct a research or we were just forced by the circumstances, the thing is no one in my department gets to leave its blocks without actually finishing a research. No matter how gifted a student is, he will never have the coveted diploma without a thesis. Happy Thesis-Writing Season! May we all graduate on time!April 2013 graduation, we’ll seize you! :D 012313; 2:34am