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by Philipina A. Marcelo
Yeah, I know, I've been "Missing in Action". I've just been poking my head in here lately, throwing random stuff hurriedly and then rushing back to the obscurity of my lab... and there have been exciting stuff happening in the UEFA Champions League on one hand and a mighty movement in men's tennis ranking on the other! As I write this, the news just came out that Barça drew their match with Sevilla FC over at Spanish La Liga while Real Madrid CF was pulled by Cristiano Ronaldo to top Malaga CF, 4-0, via hat-trick - and to the top of the Liga Table, besting Barça by one point. While Barça played awesome - as usual - Javi Varas was up to the mighty task, and none of the Blaugrana efforts he allowed to result to a goal. Fantastic feat, I must say.
While the beautiful game is always irresistible for me, I do admit that sometimes when Mother Nature chooses to relent her careful guarding of her secrets and allows "Father Science" and us, her lowly servants in the lab, to have a glimpse of her vast secrets, even the most wonderful things that Lionel Messi and the rest of FC Barcelona do on the pitch and Roger Federer's sublime talent pale in comparison. :)
So, yeah, over the past how many weeks, I've been "hanging out" with these kids in the lab, from 7:00 AM...
We are the Food Research Group of the University of Santo Tomas Research Center for the Natural and Applied Sciences... and what drives us is TEAMWORK...
...until about 9:00 in the evening, when all that there was outside was darkness... including Sundays! At some point things get incredibly exciting that we couldn't suppress the energy, and keep going until the following day - quite literally, too!
...and it involves goal-setting, designing strategy and careful planning... focus, close attention to details, perseverance when the going gets tough... and great passion for what we do!
Aah, the lure of science... and the incredibly irresistible pull of engineering. Chemistry there, Math here... data gathering there, computer simulation here... and everything makes sense when linked together - it's too sweet, too exhilarating, too impossible to resist!
Days and nights are the same when we are pursuing something "sweet"... and what we have is also called COLLABORATION because two heads are usually better than one....
But how can one resist when at the end of it all... all the hardwork and all the heart-wringing frustrations along the way ultimately lead to a really bright light and exhilarating energy at the end of the very dark tunnel? It lifts your spirit up to a place really glorious... and the beautiful thing about it is not everyone is as lucky to experience such exhilaration! :) And you feel responsible to nurture that beautiful "secret" revealed by Mother Nature. It gives delightful meaning to the theories learned in the classrooms and reading rooms... and meaningful reasons to commit once again to another "engineering expedition" as exciting!
Most of all, it is FRIENDSHIP that helps us see the light at the end of the tunnel... and powers us to reach its end, too. And enjoying the exhilarating energy out there where hardwork is rewarded with fulfillment is what we do best!
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Congratulations to my thesis students who passed their defense - with flying colors! Woohoo! :) I hope that none of you ever forgets... brilliance does not translate to a fulfilling finish - in the absence of hardwork... and teamwork! And, in fact, brilliance - the truly meaningful kind - is achieved through hardwork... and, yes, teamwork.
All the best, guys! :)
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