GOLD FOR RE CONGRESS! haha... aaron just told me today... i hope he got it right... haha... if not later i self-jack. ask him to send me the email... (:
but still it was a nice job. haha. we totally own man.
Maybe some reflections on this year's RE?
IBN June 07 attachment afterthoughts
I shall start this “afterthought” by describing this attachment with one word, just like how the ever popular Shi Hao does it. Hmm. Let me see. A few words do pop up in my head. Actually, a lot do. Worthwhile. Exciting. Fascinating. Eye-opener. I even want to use Earnest’s style of naming a person. Rensheng. He really is an inspirational person. I guess he is the kindest person I have ever seen and I think he will be the kindest person I will ever see. I’m just so glad that God gave me this opportunity to work with him for a month and maybe even more. I really hope that our friendship will last forever. He is the kind of person who will really do anything to help his friend.
I have been eagerly awaiting this attachment since the RE project firstly started. When I was still studying in Learning Lab, my teacher taught me much. But I guess nothing as important as this. She asked us to get some work experience during the holidays, especially the longer holidays. Those words have lasted in my head till now. Well, at least I’m glad that I have achieved that this holiday.
So I started out this attachment. On the first day, we got a shock when we almost got kicked out of the attachment because of certain reasons: 1. Ying Jie must miss the first week. 2. We did not check our mails and so did not send in the email for our attachment dates. 3. We did not go for the weekly safety training, without which we are not allowed to work in the lab. 4. We couldn’t extend our attachment and the minimum attachment period is 4 weeks. That was really a shock. For a moment, I really thought that the attachment was going to fall apart. Luckily for us, Ms. Tan and Ms. Noreena were kind enough to allow us to continue our attachment. So that ended a very hectic first day.
From then on, it was all lab stuff. There was a very steep learning curve in the first week where we learnt all the processes that were required to do an experiment. From collecting the fibers, gluing the fibers, gluing them in the cartridge, gluing the caps on, all the way to checking for leaks, measuring filtration rate, measuring albumin concentration, calibrating the new pumps with the new tubes – these took us lots of time. However, we still learnt it and indeed we learnt it well. Following Cao Qi through all the processes was fun. Also, we learnt all about the IBN life, the researcher’s life. Lunch time was a great time for relaxation as we went to Ghim Moh or Holland Village to eat.
Oh. I forgot to elaborate on the other YRP students. In fact, all of them are in NUS, so technically, we were the youngest there. Cao Qi whom we were closest to cause we did the same stuff in the 1st week, Ji Qing who also has the same mentor as us. These two were the main people. There were many others, like Jacky who were also very friendly. I guess there were still many more but we only said hi and bye so I don’t really know their names. Haha. Still friends though.
That said, I shall move on to some rather interesting days. Shall not go by chronological order. Instead, I shall go by interest.
The day that will always remain in my mind will be week 3 Friday. Haha. That was so humorous. Why? TOXIC GAS LEAK. I can still remember vividly that day. I was just about to start on gluing the cartridges when this announcement came over the PA system.
“There is a toxic gas leak. Please evacuate immediately”. That was the message and it kept repeating. The people in the lab were like staring at each other. I couldn’t believe that in the short period of time I was in IBN, there was going to be an evacuation. A toxic gas leak even. Wow. So we went off. I almost forgot we couldn’t use the lift until I saw Rensheng on my way out and he led me to the stairs. Went down six storeys to the ground level. We were supposed to cross the road to Matrix building for assembly but it was raining then, so no one bothered to cross the road. Haha. Well, so we were there slacking away. Haha. There was this guy who was the fire warden from our level (there are fire wardens for every level). I remember him cause he did my IT installments. Haha. Oh my. A IT personnel is a fire warden? Haha. Wow... So Ji Qing, Cao Qi and me were slacking there. And guess what, Rensheng was helping people take photos. Haha. I was taken aback. LOL. People taking photo during a evacuation? I soon realised the reason. The person who asked Rensheng take her photo was Rosa, and she was about to leave IBN on Tuesday for her PhD studies in MIT. Haha. So I guess I shall just elaborate a bit on the day she left. I just entered the lab to do some stuff and I saw her carrying her bag. She was saying “bye” to everyone. At that point in time, I still did not hear the news that she was going. Then she was going out of the door and she saw me. Till then, we haven’t really talked except like opened the door for each other when we go in or out of the lab. And so, the first and probably the last word she says to me is “bye”. Wow. Haha. Taken aback, I just replied a “oh. Ok bye.” And she went out. What a weird way to start a friendship. Haix. Anyway, back to the evacuation. We just waited till 12pm and we went for lunch. Haha. Ji Qing and me didn’t bring money so Cao Qi lent us some. Haha. Thanks!
Hm. So that was the most special day. Some other special days? Oh. IBN symposium on the last two days. Haha. BORING! Lol. Aaron and me just had to congratulate each other for lasting the first 4 hours of the talk. HAHA. Lunch was great. Reason: it was free. Haha. After that, we went in for talks again cause Rensheng was presenting. Overall, I thought he did rather well. After that, we slipped out. Haha. The next talk was starting and the guy was like saying “don’t lose steam” and we just zao4. haha. A bit weird. Well, it was really boring. Maybe cause we didn’t understand much of the stuff that people were talking about. Even Rensheng said that he didn’t understand the biology stuff. Haha.
And then there was Rensheng’s birthday on the first week. Ji Qing, Cao Qi, Aaron and me bought him a cake and we celebrated his birthday in the pantry. I really pity him. Such a nice person, yet still so lonely. No relatives, no family in Singapore. Haix. This is such an unfair world.
Actually, the other days were all rather normal. Doing experiments, having fun, talking cock. Haha. Playing pinball when the filtrate just wouldn’t come out. I hope we didn’t lian2 lei4 Rensheng. I’m really not sure whether we have slowed down his progress. If that is so, I apologise to him.
That was written a long time ago... in july.
all in all i think it was the team that made us great.
To TOH YING JIE:
your creativity and innovation has stunned me and helped the group in many ways. it was your ideas which saved us so much time and energy. your leadership has also been second to none and though u had much activities going on, like gym and ripb, your contributions were still really significant.
To AARON TANG KAI WEN:
your hard work and brilliant scientific mind has worked magic as you processed countless websites, wiki or other, within seconds and summarized it so brilliantly. you were the one who spearheaded us in everything we did, regardless the report, presentation or even the experiments.
and lastly i think i have also done a great job. AND TOGETHER, WE MAKE....
TAP : Toh Aaron Patrick... (too bad edward not here... TAPE... haha... ><)
Hmm... great job to us!
ok lol. long post. BYE.
Patrick
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