an extended acknowledgment page

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"A journey is best measured in friends rather in miles." 
-- Tim Cahill
I just handed my thesis in for assessment by a panel of external examiners this Tuesday, September 2. The days leading up to this were long, and filled with so many challenges that it was a struggle to get it done. Along the way, though, I was never alone, and I gained a lot of friends through this whole experience.

Starting off this list are the interns who lent a hand. Virrey was an efficient operator of the differential scanning calorimeter; even when I was in Sydney, she was able to do her assignment without a hitch. Clara, on the other hand, contributed a big deal to the genotyping work. And Arvin contributed a whole lot with data-gathering from capillary electrophoresis. Then the new batch of students, Mahalia,Mayrene, Charlotte, and Chris, helped me with more size distributions work, this time using size exclusion chromatography.

Graduate students I've encountered in IRRI also helped me a lot. Doug and Rachelle (a PhD now) helped me understand how the SEC works, Vito orientated me on the details of molecular biology and protein extraction, and Henry (who has since obtained his MSc) was helping me out with SEC work. Then there's Chay (yes, another PhD today) and Chan, who provided comic relief constantly. Ah yes, being able to laugh and relax is essential to survive the harrowing experiences leading up to handing in the thesis manuscript for evaluation.

The staff at the Grain Quality, Nutrition, and Post-harvest Centre at IRRI were also instrumental for helping me get to this stage. Ate Lucy, Kuya Ferdie, Kuya Johnny, Kuya Teodie, Kuya Boy, and Tita Puring all assisted me in preparing my samples. Fe and Tita Ruby helped me a lot with the statistical work, aside from Tita Ruby staying in the lab late with me. Kuya Jun and Dara were very efficient in squeezing genetic information out of seeds. Tita Dory was so generous in helping me out during the last moments before I flew off to Brisbane; I don't know how I would finish if she weren't around. And then there's Ana, the secretary who works wonders to put me on a plane ASAP, and always seems to have all the paper, and writing supplies I need.

Other people in IRRI also made my life as a student easier. Ate Beng helped me with binary logistic regression. Tito Ato provided waxy rice seeds from the IRRI farm. Ate Digna helped me get the samples I needed from the GeneBank.

Technical support from the suppliers of the different equipment was given very generously. Carlo and Steve taught me how to use the rheometer and the differential scanning calorimeter; Patrick, James, and Lorna did not give up on the CE when it kept acting up "like a porkchop" (Doug's expression for malfunctioning equipment).

Then there were those who generously provided samples for analysis, making my set of samples highly diverse. Aside from the IRRI Genetic Resources Centre, the California Cooperative Rice Research Foundation (Dr McKenzie) and the Korea Rural Development Corporation (Dr Park) sent rice samples over for analysis of starch structure. Dr Morell of the CSIRO assisted in interpreting data from the mutants used in my study.

Moving over to Australia... I am deeply grateful for the assistance given to me by Marion, who processed my samples by NMR because I was not allowed to use that machine. Then there's Jon, who taught me how to use the AF4. Patrice and David who spent a lot of time teaching me the ins and outs of the SEC machine at the University of Queensland, although my experiments failed. The staff and the students at CNAFS were all very supportive, especially during the days leading up to my manuscript submission.

I am deeply honoured to be a student of two scientists at the forefront of research on starch: Bob and Melissa. They demand excellent work from their students, and though I fell short quite a few times, they were always there to support me.

Finally, my family and friends were always there when I'm stressed out and panicky... always ready to lend a hand.

To all of you, thank you very much!!!! I would never have finished without all your help.

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