i’m typing this on an empty stomach, but that’s beside the point. to start the ball rolling, me and a friend of mine tried to defend our thesis proposal the other day (but only because it’s a condition for seniors enrollment next semester). what the thesis topic is doesn’t matter, at least not anymore. i had to drag my ass up floors to set things up.. along with a slew of other stuff that need to be taken cared of. hoping for the best as i went thru the day. the defense started with hitches, people came in late, equipments came in late. and the projector needed some caressing before it started displaying pictures. then, the verbal lashing started.
it’s a well known fact that panelists have the uncanny ability to find something wrong with your statements, no matter what your statements are. i wish i could find a funny way of putting that, but i honestly can’t.
maybe it had everything to do with friday the thirteenth? it sure as shit does from where i’m standing. or maybe they didn’t like my choice of shoes. (i wasn’t wearing a tie too)
statements to watch out for:
1) “what did you say your problem statement was again?”
from here on, things can only get more rough…
2) “huh?”
apparently, they didn’t understand anything/everything you
just said. so you hafta start from the very beginning again.
refer to number 1 above.
3) “convince us of the significance of your (undergrad) thesis…”
panelists want heroic, “world peace magnitude” reasons for
doing a thesis work.. refer to number 2 above.
there are still plenty more… the above statements basic’ly form a loop. pretty much generic and freakishly annoying. i spent the next hour or two reiterating shit that should have been history a few minutes ago. then i lost my cool because some panelists were arrogant, stubborn, know-it-all, but that’s fine. moments later, i got into a (sort of) heated argument, and i discovered a way to make people, especially girls, tell you exactly what’s on their mind. make them/her angry at you. it’s a good thing popular civil ethics demand that people should sugar-coat their words in a formal-academic-adult discourse. this conscious effort tends to disappear slowly as the heat on everyone’s head escalate. the defense thing was basically a “hold-me-in-duress-till-im-saved-by-the-bell” scenario. you can tell that your contentions have no chance whatsoever of actually being considered while in defense, when all they do is to compare your thesis with other works.
as if i cared.
boy, they got away with so much. and i’m left in the room with my ego smashed. a few minutes later i met one of them along the way, lifted my (consequently) 10-ton right arm to give a wave. …nearly died doing it.
…times like these, you need a juicy fruit. really.
