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Thought
Long & Hard -- Now Studying Science
Chen
Tian
Medical Science Undergraduate, University of New South Wales
12th
April 2006, the WWD in Science was a big day
for me.
I had a psychology tutorial at 9
am, following by a 2 hr Mathematics
computer program study. At 12noon,
I attended a chemistry lecture talking about
organic chemistry with complicated types of reactions. In
spite of confusing equations in my head, I had to run from
the Applied Science theatre on the lower campus to Mathews
Building on the upper campus immediately at 1
pm to get to my ‘research participation’ for
psychology students.
In psychology, we have to participate in a psych experiment
as a class assignment. That way, we get insight into what
psychology experimentation is about; plus, the researchers
get more data. I had two experiments to participate in that
afternoon, and I found them quite interesting.
One was a computer-based study where participants sought to
find out what food caused allergy to Mr. X. There were 3 types
of responses that Mr. X would have - “no allergy,” “headache,”
and “rash”. You were told right or wrong in the first part
after each trial. But in the following two parts, you needed
to find out on your own what caused the allergy.
The other experiment was a set of questionnaires about a participant’s
mood during the last few weeks. The questions were
-- in my opinion -- very sensitive and also effective for
the research to analyse people’s moods. For example, during
the last few weeks, including today:
* “Do you feel excluded from other students in the university?”
* “Do you have thoughts of suicide?”
* “Do you think you have less interest in sex?”
How would you answer questions like these?! @_@
I ate my sandwich on the way to the Sir John Clancy Auditorium
theatre for a 3 pm psychology
lecture about personality. It’s
really tough running around the campus, and it’s obviously
a Science day for me. The day kept both my mental and physical
abilities running for the whole day.
From what I said in the previous paragraph, I bet you’ve already
identified my area of study in UNSW. Right, it is definitely
related to science, and my program is called Bachelor of Medical
Science. I am currently in my first year at the University
of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. I have been in Australia
for three years now.
I thought about my choice of degree program
for a long time since I finished my high
school studies. Finally, I transferred from
the Bachelor of Commerce to Medical Science, which seemed
to be a HUGE change.
Well, I should point out that not all international
students are suitable for commerce,
and I am one such exception. International students do have
their own reasons for choosing commerce. I want to say, though,
that if you take a look at other areas of study, you may find
something more interesting than commerce, such as Science.
: )
I finally realized that, since I enjoyed science courses
in my high school (Kingsgrove North High
School - a lovely school!), I should continue doing similar
courses. I have had a good foundation, which would give me
a potential to achieve. I am quite interested in biochemistry
and microbiology, and I am looking forward
to work in the forensic science area. Sounds
a bit exciting~
I should confess that working in the forensic science area
is one of my desires since high school. I like to find out
how reactions occur between chemicals and study the applications
in real life. This area enables
us not only to learn about the phenomena, but, in forensic
science, experimentation also clarifies a hidden fact.
Anyway, the future is not predictable, and I do not want to
fixate on it now. As a science student who participated in
the World Wide Day in Science last year when I shadowed two
university students, I know it is the right choice to keep
up with the pace of the modern scientific world, to learn
more, and to be helpful to others.
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