Searching My Soul, Tonight

So, I am now officially back in uni.

Completing my final year.

Ya-hoo!

Well, not exactly.

First day back and I'm petrified. The introductory lectures really did the trick the proprietors wanted them to. They've successfully reduced me to a bunch of fray nerves.

Presentations. Group work. Group project. Individual presentations. Class test. Exams.

Break?

None.

Our major major (have I said major?) assignment this term will be VPL. Actually, it's not called VPL, but we are essentially doing a project for VPL - Venture Pharmacy Limited - a venture capital company set up by lecturers to fund bright, feasible projects.

Hypothetical, obviously. There's no such company, but we have to pretend as if it's real.

Our task? Form a biotechnology company to research a drug for a given disease.

Each group consists of 8/9 students, 2 representatives from each of the research group ranging from chemistry, drug delivery, pharmacology and health and medicine. In lay men terms, there'll be 2 chemists, 2 drug formulation-ist, 2 pharmacologists and 2 clinical staff in the biotech company, and it's designed this way so that we each bring our respective expertise into the team to work this thing out.

My group? We're looking at developing new Hepatitis C treatment.

How?

NO CLUE.

Next up, it's this thing called Expert Witness. As pharmacists, there will be instances where we will be asked to go to court to provide, as the phrase suggests, expert opinion to help with criminal or civil cases involving the use and misuse of drugs. To prepare us for the REAL WORLD, they've designed an assignment in which we have 2 weeks to research and prepare for a 15 min presentation, which is supposed to mimic the adversarial situation, ie like how it is in court - complete with judges, jury, prosecutors, plaintiffs / defence.

How?

NO IDEA.

Just this evening, I bumped into a long-time-no-see friend at the hall. She came to visit a coursemate and knocked on my door on her way down. We got chatting for a bit and being a law graduate, I sought her opinion.

"You want to know about the judiciary system and law stuff ar?"

I nodded my head with so much vigour it almost broke my neck.

"Haha, er, I guess you can watch Ally McBeal?"

It doesn't take a genius to figure that she was actually kidding, but I took her words seriously anyway. Anything that would help me get a better idea of the LAW.

So I did. I watched Ally McBeal. Right from the start. The pilot of Season 1. Courtesy of a very generous veoh.com member. And I'm hooked.

It's all Lu Yee's fault!!! :)

But hey, don't roll your eyes at me...

As Ms McBeal herself said...

"I am admitting a difficulty. It will get easier in time."

How much time do you think?