Crazy Dreams I May Never Realize

            

I received a text message from a friend that reads, “Somehow, I felt relieved after knowing na hindi lang ako ang 1 year behind kung mag-medicine ako next year… coz I’m really having second thoughts.” She sent me this after a day when I informed her of my miserable life. I was dumped by the sole medical school I applied this year. I have been jobless for the last three months and until now I am still looking. I feel like the longer I stay at home doing nothing, the crazier I get each day.

            I admire this friend so dear. She is an epitome of a real and trusted friend. I remember our college days when I was consistently telling her to refuse any favor asked from her by our lazy classmates. She always said “Yes.” When somebody went for her and asked her to point this and that structure in our Anatomy class with details of its origin, insertion, and action, she never refused. Then others would come to her and repeat the whole talking. This happened many times. Once I told her to just stop because she’s not helping them become better. She’s turning them into lazy and irresponsible students. But as always, she refused to listen to me.

            She knows my crazy dreams. In our Zoogeography class under Dr. Nacua, we studied the different faunal regions and why Philippines is called Wallacea. Our fauna is a mix of oriental and australo-pacific faunal region, meaning it’s more like a transition point. Here we met Wallace’s line. Then out of the blue, I told her that I will abolish this line and create a new one called Cyro’s line. She found my idea ridiculous because me voyaging around the world appears funny and unrealistic to her.

            Then there are more crazy dreams I have. This time in our Histology class under Prof. Endrina. We were studying cells and its specific organization in different parts of the body. I was amazed by the fact that by just looking the organization of the cells under the microscope, you would be able to determine which organ it is from. Here we met cells named after scientists. Then again, out of the blue, I had this idea that one day I will be known because of Cyro’s cell that is discovered using Cyro’s apparatus. Talk about master of crazy dreams, I am the man you’re looking for.

            My thesis was about anurans. While reading literature, I have learned many species of frogs named after its discoverer. Silly as it may sound, I had another one. Explore the mountains, find a frog, and named it Cyro’s frog. Then there are the Cyro’s worm in our Parasitology class and the Cyro’s bird in our Wildlife class.

            This friend may never know that I am writing about her. She is more like me actually. Almost all our batchmates took up BS Biology or Zoology as their preparatory course for medicine. I was like them before. But as my year progressed and as I took courses not related to medicine, a different interest emerged and it’s about research in ecology and wildlife. She also is not so motivated to become MD. She even did not take the NMAT last December. And her telling me that she’ll pursue medicine next year is a surprise. This is a major career shift.# 061713