Gawad Youth 2010: Panel Interview

-
A week after I submitted my portfolio, a representative of the Selection Committee called up to inform me that I was a finalist, and I was up for interview on March 3rd at the provincial capitol. 

When I got there, I met the other four finalists. Two of them are teachers; one in high school, and the other in university. One of them is a member of a dance troupe. The other one is a budding politician.

This photo was taken right before the panelists began with the interview portion. While one was on the hot seat, the others were downstairs, talking. As it turned out, all of us learned about the award when the forms were handed over. Plus, we did not realise that the interview is part of the competition. It was very to easy to build rapport with the finalists, hence the difficulty in remembering that we're competing.

When my turn came up, I was faced with the challenge of making the interviewers appreciate what I do as a scientist since I don't think any of them is into starch chemistry. The interviewers came from non-scientific backgrounds, I think. If I remember correctly, the panelists were introduced as educators and heads of different provincial offices or committees (I distinctly remember the heads of the land transportation management office and of the history, arts, and culture office). I would want to avoid a similar reaction to what my IELTS speaking examiner told me in 2004, 

"You do NOT dish out those words - amylopectin and capillary electrophoresis - during an IELTS exam!" 

Because of their background, I thought that if ever a question about how my work has helped the community comes up, I would discuss the gelatinisation temperature paper. The applications of the findings reported in that paper are relatively simpler to explain to rice consumers (including the panelists), as compared to the other papers that I have submitted to journals.

I bet non-science people often imagine Dexter (in Dexter's Lab), complete with white lab coat and thick glasses when they hear the word "scientist." They may also think that all scientists just work and not play; which was probably why one of the panelists asked how do I spend my free time. This question caught me off-guard, but since I am playing a few sports, and I do have a hobby, I talked with the panel about these things. 

The panel interview was an eye-opener for me. Here are some lessons I've learned:

1. There are existing stereotypes about scientists; 
2. The backgrounds of the interviewers should be taken into consideration when discussing technical subjects (such as my work); 
3. (I have to thank Kuya Mitchie for this) you know you've conquered the interview when it's been transformed into a conversation.

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for dropping by!

Before moving on, please share your thoughts or comments about the post. :)

Thanks again!

Popular posts from this blog

Skyflakes

-
One of the more famous Philippine exports is Skyflakes , a wheat-based, salty cracker. It is one of my emergency food items: I typically have some stocked at home and in my handbag in case I become hungry (like in traffic jams). When there's no electricity and it's impractical to cook rice (because the leftover would spoil), I'd open a pack of Skyflakes and generously coat each cracker with Cheez Whiz... if I had a bottle of it within reach. Anyway, each time I spent more than two weeks outside the Philippines, I'd be elated to see boxes of Skyflakes inside Asian stores (particularly when in I was Australia and in the USA). Back then, I took it as a sign of homesickness. When I moved to California, I didn't miss Skyflakes because Mommy made sure that there's a steady supply in the house. Skyflakes is embedded in Filipino gastronomy as a snack, a panawid-gutom , that anyone who reacts positively upon seeing Skyflakes outside the Philippines must have spe...
Read more

10 things I learned while driving on Marcos Highway to Baguio City

-
I went on a day trip to the City of Pines, which was around a 700-km drive from my house. I drove  going up there and then from the city to Victoria, Tarlac. After that, my dad took over the driving duties. It was day trip with Tita Ising and Tito Sibing with us. Anyway, this trip was my first time to go to Baguio City with me behind the wheel. As everyone who drives up knows, there are three main routes to Baguio from the lowlands: Kennon Road, which ascends from Rosario, La Union. It was out of my options because it's too dangerous to use that road in the rainy season. The second route is via Naguilian Road, which makes my trip a lot longer because the beginning of the ascent is in Bauang, La Union (further north). The last route, and the one I took, was the Marcos Highway, now known as the Aspiras-Palispis Highway. This 47-km road starts from Agoo, La Union and is touted as the safest route among the three.  As I drove up and then down (on the same day; we were in...
Read more

Surat Mangyan

-
Image
In high school, part of the Filipino curriculum was learning about one of the country's ancient native scripts called Baybayin . I learned back then that this script was eventually abandoned because the Spanish, and eventually the Americans, encouraged the use of the Latin script for written communications. But that's in the lowlands; the rules were different up in the mountains. In the lush mountains of Mindoro, groups of indigenous people called Mangyans  live largely in isolation away from the Christianised Filipinos. This isolation has led to the continuous development of the Mangyans' old script, Surat Mangyan . As I walked inside the Ayala Museum , I saw this bamboo tube (I'm not sure if it's an instrument) with Mangyan script written all over it. I suppose that this was equivalent to a book or a song. But I haven't figured out what's written yet, despite the translation guide provided. What I can do, however, is write my name in Ma...
Read more