Azide Girl, Gossiping and Freshmen...

Not long ago, Yong called me up to ask me if I needed a job to fill up the huge gaps in my timetable. Apparently, the lab tech in his lab had taken ill and he needed a replacement as fast as possible. I of course, jumped at the offer. I was pretty bored, sitting around doing nothing... working in the lab has been fun for the past 2 weeks. A little bit stressful, but fun, none the less. I suppose the main reason for this is that instead of working in an entirely new environment, I have a friend with me that's showing me the ropes. Luckily, said friend has been patient enough to teach me. Thanks ah, Yong! :P

 

After about a week of helping Yong in the lab, Eileen came to help us too. Eileen ar, she's damn funny. That girl has so many stories and is really a bubbly person to work with. Work is never a dull moment with her around. Working in the lab, I have made a couple of new friends, and learnt more about the people that work behind the scenes. I've seen the pressure that the lab techs have when preparing for lab sessions, I've seen the amount of dedication it requires.

 

But I suppose the best thing about working in the lab is seeing things from the other side of the fence. I'm helping out in the preparation for the freshmen BIO 1011 and BIO 1022. Trust me when I say there are moments that make me wonder if I was as innocent and incapable as the freshmen this sem. Things have changed though. In the new campus, the freshmen are given mostly everything and facilities are wonderful. The equipment are mostly new and solutions are mostly freshly prepared. Some students ask the most ridiculous questions and some make me stare in disbelief. There are incidents where many "stupid moments" could have been avoided if they had read the instructions clearly and double checked everything that they did instead of asking the demo/ professor/ lab techs. For instance, "Azide girl" was silly enough not to use her gloves when handling the sodium azide, a VERY toxic solution. She asked us how toxic it was. I explained that if it deactivates enzymes, what did she think? Anyhow, the silly girl, if she's reading this, hopefully has learnt her lesson and ALWAYS wear gloves in the lab when handling ANY chemical.

 

Working is fun in the lab with Eileen gossiping to me about all sorts of things. She has stories about lecturers, research students and other lab techs. Hahah! Yong would listen and at times join us, but being the guy that he is, he's usually not very interested. Oh well. The only down side to this job is I realise it's taking up quite a bit of my personal time. I suppose it's just a taste of working life though. Once I start working full time, things would be like this anyways.

 

Ps..

 

I am aware I haven't been blogging as of late, or posting any pictures of my "new" hairstyle.

I'm going to collect all the money I earned and put it away in my "New Phone" fund! :P