My undergraduate thesis and other things (i.e. scholarship journey)

So I was overhauling the format and content of my CV today (it took me five hours, seriously) and I Googled the School of the Department of Environmental Science at Ateneo. I taught in this school under this department for one semester. I didn't find what I intended to look for, but I found this instead:

Link to webpage

Omigoodness it's our undergraduate thesis!!!!! This study was conducted 18 years ago and I came across it again, WOW!!!

Omigosh so I clicked on some other links and look what I found:

Link to webpage

THIS IS JUST SO COOL!!!!!! Oh my heart!!! 

💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓

What makes this so cool and amazing is because of all the memories that came flooding my mind when I read the abstract! And I went like, "omigosh I remember all those countless hours we spent in the lab (mostly washing lab glassware and running the rotary evaporator, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA)!"

I didn't have good grades in my undergrad, but my goodness the hard times were the best times!!! If someone were to ask me if I would redo my undergrad years and have better grades in exchange for less hardships, less extra-curricular activities, and less time with friends... perhaps when I was younger, in my early- to mid-20s, when I was studying my master's in UP, I would have probably said yes, let me redo my undergrad so I can have better grades in exchange for all the fun that I had. 

But now, now I'm in my mid- to late-30s, received my master's in Australia, and taking my PhD in the US, I would not exchange my undergrad memories, friendships, and experience for anything else. Not at all. My fortitude, resilience, and perseverance were built on my failures as a biochemistry student. I was seen by some faculty members of my department as someone who wouldn't get far and achieve much in life. This was my perception because this was how I felt based on how they were treating me.

Oh well. Look at me now. A bit late, to be honest, in pursuing my PhD. Nonetheless, I'm proud to have studied in the best schools in the Philippines (UP Diliman) and in Australia (ANU). And now, I'm here in the US, at an R1 research university, on my third year as a PhD student. And what makes me even prouder to say is that I FUNDED ALL MY POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION through scholarships, stipends, and salaries. Yep. I did all that. Of course I would be inflating my story if I left out the financial support of my parents and husband. Of course they supported me in terms of the pre-acceptance expenses and other external expenses which my money couldn't finance (e.g., new luggage, winter clothes, 

In UP, I was working as a University Research Associate, and part of our benefits included free six units of coursework. This was also the maximum number of coursework you can take as you're classified as a part-time student and a full-time employee. And because I was working, I also had a "stipend" in the form of employee salary. In ANU, I was fortunate to be the recipient of the prestigious Australia Awards Scholarship. I studied for free and got a monthly allowance that paid for my board and lodging. In UNTHSC, I got accepted into the PhD program and fortunately, when you get admitted, you automatically are enrolled under a scholarship and will receive stipend in the form of employee salary as a graduate research assistant. 

So yeah. I studied for free. Earning while I was studying so I had little money in my pocket to finance my living expenses. The drawback was that I'm not able to save anything because I subsisted on meager stipends. Well, I really don't chase much the money, but I do value the honor and prestige more than anything else.

Anyway, I meant this blog post to be only a short one that features the websites with our undergrad thesis. It ended up being a long one 😅

Until then,