Luca.

It's our unofficial study break before finals next week. I say unofficial  because we never really have official study breaks. Our breaks - if they do happen to exist - are there because lectures + review sessions were completed a week earlier than planned. 

So it's basically a one-week break before finals. I don't even turn up all the time when there are lectures, but today (yesterday), I went to uni. A friend was impressed that I'm heading to uni on a day when we don't have classes on. I actually had to drop by to hand the data of my final year research project to my thesis supervisor. He's keen in getting our stuff published. (Man, if it does get published, does that mean my dream of getting published has come true? But what, in a scientific journal!? )

Why did I even start this post with such a long-winded intro?

Rainbow cake during catchup with intern colleagues on the last
day of lectures this semester. I still don't think this is food. The
colours scare me too much.

So anyway, I went to uni just to hand some stuff to my dear supervisor who promised to see me after lunch hours. Since our appointment time was so vague, I even checked my mail several times before leaving home because I had a feeling that he wouldn't be in. There was no mail, so I headed to uni. 

When I arrived, he wasn't in his office. tadaa...

I went to the administrative office of our department and asked our ever-trusty admin Ms Jeannie if she knows where I can find Dr Luca, my Italian rat brain freak supervisor who has a Japanese wife (not that I think he's a freak.. well I guess I do, but I'm only calling him a freak because he called himself a freak. So.. I don't mean anything bad ^^).

Apparently the entire department was in an emergency meeting to reshuffle the duty roster (or whatever you call that) for the new semester because Dr Luca is leaving. BECAUSE DR LUCA IS LEAVING.

And I didn't know. Well, he never mentioned. 

He's leaving right after our final exams next week, as I was told. 

Cow brain. During Dr Luca's Brain and Behaviour class.

I started to feel nostalgic all of a sudden. Not to say that I'll miss him that much. I know I will, but I'm graduating anyway, so him leaving the uni doesn't matter much to me... but him leaving at this time makes me feel... betrayed. No wait, what's a better word? Speechless. Yeah, whatever. 

He began lecturing at our university two years back(?) when we were suppose to take this subject called Brain and Behaviour. It's basically neuroscience in psychology. From what our seniors said, this subject isn't that much of a torture under the previous lecturer. But Dr Luca, being the neuroscience guy, brought this subject to a brand new level. It was seriously neuroscience. We all had a super tough time because we were not trained in neuroscience, we don't know neuro brainy terms, we don't really have the basic knowledge about how the neuronal stuff works, and yet we were required to read journals after journals on neuroscience, and sit for a final exam about how serotonin, dopamine works in the PFC, amygdala, hippocampus, basal ganglia... I don't even remember now. 

In fact, I never really understood a thing even as I sat for the paper at the end of that semester. How did I even get a B for that. Thank goodness my essay assignment mark was good. That definitely helped. Digit ratio is interesting anyway. I thank myself for picking this topic.

Cow brain slices. Or salami slices as Dr Luca calls it.

After the trauma from Brain and Behaviour, we were all reluctant to step into our final semester, knowing that another subject under Dr Luca awaits us. But anyway, before the final semester, we had to begin our final  year research project. We all went to the lecturers of our choices with a research topic, and eventually got our supervisors for the final year.

As I never really had an idea of a research topic for my thesis, I just cluelessly went to Dr Luca before anyone else, because he's the only lecturer I know who has topics ready for his potential thesis student. He told me that he thinks it'll be hard to juggle experiments for his topic and internship simultaneously, so he came up with something different and easier to carry out. I was pleased by how understanding he was, and the topic didn't sound too difficult at the moment, so I agreed to do my final year project under him. 

Turns out I was too naive. Nothing is easy. Data collection was fine, but given the nature of the procedure (collecting blood samples from participants), I had a hard time getting people to participate in the study. Taking time off internship and going around persuading strangers to take part, was exhausting - physically and mentally. 

The room where I did most of my data collection in. The room where I hid in for
some me-time when there were no participants. The room which was a good
enough resting spot for me while I suffered from shingles.

I had to make sure the experiment times did not clash with my office hours, and make sure participants who do agree to take part stick to the requirements of the study (coming at least two hours but not more than three hours after food). On the day itself, I worry whether they'll actually turn up. I worry whether they know how to get to the lab. They could call me if they can't find their way, but there's no line in that underground lab, and I wouldn't get their calls. I couldn't leave the lab with the apparatuses in it either.

I ended up getting shingles half way through data collection. I'm convinced that shingles hurt more than giving birth to a baby. The degree of pain just seemed to be the maximum a human body can feel (I later read on a newspaper that shingles do indeed hurt more than birth. Eh? But yeah.)

Thankfully data collection was completed successfully before the deadline set by Dr Luca. I managed to go through this whole thing while battling the pain in my nerves (literally!). Then I thought that was the end. 

But no! The writeup is the real thing. Making sense of my data, understanding previous journals and brain circuits, writing out my report, and analysing what they all freaking mean. That was countless of sleepless nights before the date of thesis submission. 

A part of the acknowledgement section of my dissertation, dedicated to Dr Luca.

Now, we're all done with those. What awaits me ahead is our final exam. The first paper? Psychology Seminar by Dr Luca. Neuroscience. Basically an advanced version of Brain and Behaviour. 

The torture. The pain. The experience. The memory. The reason why I'm dreading this final exam more than ever. They all point to the same two words: Dr Luca. 

Now that he's leaving, our juniors wouldn't have to go through this same subject with neuroscience as its topic. If you get what I wanted to say with this pointlessly lengthy post, I meant to point out the fact that Dr Luca came to our university just in time to take over Brain and Behaviour, be my thesis supervisor, and make our Psych Seminar neuroscience-based. That all done, and he's leaving. 

Not that I'm complaining. It just made me nostalgic all of a sudden. It makes me wonder how would my undergraduate course be without him. What would I have done for my final year dissertation? Under whose supervision? Would it have been any less painful? If it weren't for him, would psych seminar final exam be a piece of cheese cake instead of a rainbow cake (at least I like it)? What would I be doing now? What kind of memories would I take with me as I put an end to my undergraduate course?

Turns out this is the only picture I have of/with Dr Luca. Should probably take a
picture with him when I see him tomorrow today.

Dr Luca's subject has been so much of a pain for many of us, and he has been such a huge part in my undergraduate course. It just feels... strange(the good way) to know that he's ending his term at our university the same time I'm ending my undergrad studies.

Even if I don't remember neuroscience stuff in the future, I hope I'll always remember Dr Luca and his lectures, his supervision, his freakishness and unique style of lecture. The Luca Express - what I call his lectures (thanks to Dr Alvin).

I'll be seeing Dr Luca again in the afternoon, and one more time during the day we sit for his paper in the final exam. I hope I'll do well in this last test from him. 

Before that, I hope I freakin' start studying for that paper!