The Journal From Hell

Last night sat with the biotech experiments journal to complete it. Realised its an instrument of torture and sadism the point of which is to make the fact clear that no matter how hard you try, you will never be able to complete this devilish task in its entirety. Supposedly its very easy to write as you just have to fill in observations and draw conclusions and state the result. The rest all that is aim, theory, procedure etcetera are printed. But if you look closer, you'd realise that it doesn't really make a difference whether these were printed or not. We are to fill our pages with extra theory even if not required, mention the name of each experiment clearly on subsequent page even if it has already been mentioned prior. Plus draw 'neat' diagrams which is no easy feat coz the journal is really fat so when you go to draw diagrams on any page, it's unbalanced with the result that you keep drawing and erasing again and again till the page is almost torn and out of frustration you start tearing your own hair.

As if this were not enough, you have to make a separate booklet where if you like you can add more theory, write about field reports and stick pictures to prove you've been to the places that you have mentioned and as one prof put it, make it attractive and impressive. Impressive is still understandable but attractive?? Anyways as I was saying, you gotta add an entire chapter on statistics, include like maybe only 50 problems which is quite LESS... and genetic problems and so it goes on... Much like some friend's shopping list when you commit the mistake of telling him/her where you going for vacation!

In all this mess, I don't understand the point of distributing 'printed' journals. Might as well sit and write the entire thing out instead of doing things halfway. T put it as 'wastage of time'. As if this were more fruitful. Haa! At the end of it, when you think you are finally done with the bloody thing, the prof will suddenly discover a hundred errors and ask you to redo them again. And again. And again.

So this vicious process will continue and when you will have finally completed your journal, got it certified and covered it neatly with brown recycled paper, there will be just 24 hours left for the final practical exam and when you've touched the skies of happiness after a harrowing journey through hell, you'll have to prepare for another journey through a hell even more worse than this. Good Luck.