Nur Shahirah Binti Mohd Hisam (MIC 180032)

GIG 1005 SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
Reflective Writing

Nur Shahirah Binti Mohd Hisam (MIC 180032)                                Date: 28 March 2020

Science has always been my passion since I was a young girl. The thought of discovering new things and understanding how everything works theoretically has always ignites excitement in me. I even had a thought of being a Science teacher back in primary school, and by joining this programme conducted by Year 1 and Year 2 students of Biomedical Science , I managed to have the experience of sharing my knowledge and communicate with the fellow bright-minded high school students of SMK (P) Sri Aman. This programme has changed my perspective towards youngsters’ interest in Science and made me a better person as this programme has ended. Although we did not manage to have more sessions with them due to the pandemic outbreak of COVID-19, the moments that we shared with the students will never be forgotten and will be cherished forever.

            During the end of Semester 1, 2019/2020 session, all of first year and second year students were called to attend a briefing with our course coordinator, Dr. Puah Suat Moi regarding our Social Engagement programme. We were briefed that we were going to conduct some modules regarding microbiology and genetics to a fellow high school student at different schools. At first, I thought that this programme would be a burden to me as I stay outside of the University area and it will be held on Saturdays. I would have to travel as far as 30 kilometres just to attend this activity as my house is quite far from the faculty. This was not the problem as we had to reschedule our activity due to COVID-19 outbreak early in February to Friday. Despite that, I was still excited and pumped to join this activity as I can spend quality time with my classmates, gain new experience and scientific knowledge, and also build my soft-skill in communicating with the community outside of UM.

            All students were obliged to attend at least two internal workshop sessions. This was to expose how the activities will be performed during the actual day and familiarize ourselves with the procedures in conducting the activities. In my opinion, both internal workshop sessions that I have joined, which were DNA Fingerprinting and DNA Extraction were really fun and beneficial to me as the theories behind the activities can be applied at the subjects that I am currently learning for this semester. The postgraduate facilitators that helped us in explaining and executing the procedures were also very friendly and helpful, and I really look up to them as they were very calm when explaining the activity to us. This internal workshop made me realize about the importance of effective early planning and preparation prior conducting an activity so that all students will be prepared, and minor technical problems can be avoided. I also acknowledged the importance of teamwork among my classmates in order to execute the activity smoothly.

            The actual event was conducted on Friday, which was on 28 February 2020. All of us travelled from our faculty to SMK (P) Sri Aman approximately at 12.00 pm right after our Molecular Techniques practical session. Everyone was rushing to eat their lunch and book GrabCars with their assigned ‘travel-buddies’ so that we can reach the school on time. Due to the cooperation of all the second-year students, all of us managed to reach the school right on time and prepare the school hall for the seminar session. This session was handled by Group 2, led by Ooi Jin Kiak which was one of our classmates. Some of us were not assigned to do any particular tasks so we attended the program to help them gather the students, finding the prayer room so that the muslim students can perform prayers prior the activity and also helped Group 2 in preparing the activity at the labs. 

            During the seminar sessions, I could not help myself but notice the complexity of the slides presented by one of our classmates. The contents presented were so detailed that if I was one of the high school students, I would not be able to understand the topic thoroughly. However, I believe that my classmates have tried their best in preparing the slides and sharing the knowledge with the students. Most of the students seemed to be very interested in the topic presented as well so it was a huge relief for me. They were also very hardworking in taking notes regarding the topic presented and none of them actually slept during the seminar, so that was really a huge success for us. The activity was then continued with the experiment activity where the students were asked to conduct an experiment regarding DNA extraction, guided by us the second-year facilitators. I had a fun time briefing them about the experiment although interacting with high school students was an unusual thing for me. Not to mention, I was actually really nervous when explaining about the experiments to them, and I even spilled some of the alcohol whilst trying to pour them into the tube as I was so shaky and demonstrating things in front of a crowd was nerve-wracking for me. But I managed to overcome my fear and continued the demonstration smoothly, with the support and pep talks from my lecturer and friends. I had no complaints regarding the activities as my friends have done a great job in interacting and helping the participants, but some minor problems had arisen during our quiz sessions. Some of the questions had no answers and some of the answers prepared were wrong. I was quite upset because of this as this problem should not have happened in the first place if all of us were prepared and double checked the questions beforehand. Luckily, my friends who handled this session managed to handle this issue quite smoothly and explain to the students regarding the technical problems that we were facing. Our lecturers also have helped us in solving the issues quickly. This unfortunate issue has taught me that we should always be prepared to face future complications in life and that all problems have their solutions, and also by doing mistakes throughout our life, we will able to improve ourselves to become better individuals and also teach us lessons about how to prevent such events from happening in the future.

            There are many things that I have learnt after attending this activity. This activity has changed me as an individual by making me realize that teamwork makes the dream work. By having a good teamwork where all members play an active role can ensure the successfulness of the handled activities. Also, this activity has made me overcome my fear in presenting in front of a crowd. I am now less anxious in sharing my experience and knowledge in front of a crowd and this outcome has boost my confidence. Lastly, this activity has enhanced my knowledge in genetics and microbiology as I managed to understand the theories behind DNA fingerprinting and DNA extraction, this enables me to apply my knowledge in understanding the topics that I will be learning throughout my study as a Biomedical Science students, also helping me in achieving my dream in becoming a successful biomedical scientist. 

(1401 words)