It was one of those sleepless nights that I was able to reflect on my life as a student. I came to the realization that there are these special Professors that really made a mark on me. It may have been as simple as being nice to our class or being rigid and strict. But these are the elements that made them leave an imprint in my life.

Unfortunately, they are not affiliated with our department anymore. I learned their dismissal were far from amicable which greatly saddened me because not only are they graduates of the department (cum laudes to boot), they are also good mentors. In my point of view, it was an outrage taking them off the department.

Writing my reflection on each of my former professor made me emotional. I was tearing up when I came to realize that my college life would be different had they not be my teachers.

For more information about the teacher type please refer to this this blog post



Teacher type: Technophile-Basic, DBS, Student Buddy


When I first heard that this particular former professor of mine was dismissed, I immediately thought:

"FUCK! WHY!?"

Yes.

I just said those two words.

Actually I said them in the vernacular, so that means I was really pissed. Why you ask? Here's why!

1. She's really nice! Anyone who will say otherwise will drop dead after 5 seconds.
2. She's really good! She teaches very well; Is able to explain things that some professors find hard to explain.
3. She has the HEART! She will teach other subjects if we ask her to (like that time she taught us Kinetics). She is much more lenient in giving points to exams.

Hmmmp. I'd always said that the only reason why I passed Unit Operations 3 and Unit Operations 4 is because "she" is our Calculations Lab Instructor. Whatever I didn't learn in the lecture, I will learn it in Lab class. (well except Kremser, I didn't understand it at all!) She was the first to break the good news to me that I passed Unit 3, I thought I was one of those on the edge of glory but she told me that I already passed the subject and that I had a high score. Really? 2.75 is high already? Well, not that I'm complaining since I flunked all prelims quizzes and the Prelims (stupid Kremser Equation!) yet still passed the subject.

She's really an inspiration for me. If ever I would become a teacher in the future, I would strive to be just like her. She cares for the students, probably because our age difference was not that much that she seems to relate to us; but she cares nonetheless. And her aura is just uplifting, I don't remember any class that we had a bad time with her since she is usually welcoming and homey. Sort of like a big sister.

Haaaay... Too bad the next generation ChE's-in-training won't have the feeling of having an Ate in the Faculty, especially one that teaches those crucial major subjects.


Teacher type: Technophile-Advanced, Genius-the Wizard, Firestarter, The Orator-meaningful, HAITE

If you're going to ask me what is my favorite ChE subject, my answer would be Stoichiometry and Particulate Technology. But if you're going to ask me from what subject did I learned the most, my answer would be my class in Chemical Process Industries.

When he first entered our room that first Saturday of SY '08-'09, I was terrified. I remember him as the orange guy who threatened our first year section; The incident more popularly known as the Toto incident.

"Ano section nyo!? ChE!? Humanda kayo sa higher years nyo!"

or something to that extent.

Ever since the time he scolded me from being absent in his class, I never made an attempt to ditch his class again. I was absent that one time because I was in charge of being a tour guide for the freshmen that year. But I was still scolded. T_T

CPI is a very special class for me because, just as I said, this is the class where I learned the most. It might be that the course itself deals with many sub-fields but more than that, I think it is because of my teacher.

It was the first time that I had a class that was not spoon fed. Although he tried his best to bring the level of the topics one notch down, it is still up to us, the students, to really stand up and meet him halfway. Most noteworthy of all is that he always relates his lessons to cooking or food preparation. For me, that was really an effective approach because I have background in cooking and baking. That's the reason why I can easily grasp most of the information that he was trying to convey.

I can only remember two questions that he asked me: 'How do make Latik?' and 'What is the effect of using Aluminum foil in baking?'. I answered the Latik part correctly, as for the other one, I wasn't really aware that the foil was not just used to prevent browning or crusting; Using the different sides will have different effect in the cooking process. I think this is the best lesson that I learned from that. Although he asked me to perform the experiment at home using the different sides of the foil, I still don't have a muffin pan eh. hihiihi!!!!

What I also love in this subject is that no matter how much I eat before class, I will be hungry again after. It just means that I am really using my brain cells to be able to understand the lesson. Also, I like the unorthodox method of testing our abilities of understanding. This is the only major subject I think that we had an essay type of questions. Like what type of feeding to use in the process of Condensed milk, and the change in settings of a dryer for mushrooms that had rainfall the previous night.

He also imparted wisdom as a one of the few in-field practicing Chemical Engineers affiliated with the department. I really think it makes a big difference if your practicing, because you can easily notice the difference in approach of teaching with those simply in the academe. As the academic people tend to be more idealistic, those from the field tend to be more realistic. This is especially true in terms of exam questions.

Sometimes, he would tell us stories about the nature of his work. Sometimes useful, sometimes not. But I do remember that he was the one who told us about the Octane Number, the RON and MON, and knocking. That's the main reason why I was able to comment on this issue. Reminders of not being "tatanga tanga" during plant visits.

Baka umuulan na ng kumukulong tubig eh tatanga tanga ka pang nakataayo sa ilalim ng putol na pipe.

That statement is really hard to get off your mind.

I really feel that he is a big loss in the department. He will leave a big void in the ChE's-in-training school life that no professors in the department can fill. They will not receive the wisdom that we received from him. They will not be able to experience how it is to be mentored by one of the brightest mind in our engineering field.

Kaya isa nalang masasabi ko sa mga estudyante ngayon. GOODLUCK!

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