Love What You Do

Work will less burdening when you put your heart in

Living in a brand new place with new environment surely became a challenge for me. I guess I already wrote several times regarding to this here. Yet, I suppose, I choose a right department and supervisors to navigate on the jungle of Master’s degree research and how to find a way to the way out: the finish line.

They might be not always right or perfect, sometimes they indirectly challenged me and gave me a brand new perspective. So, here is my favorite:

The Department that I conducted study on has a room for postgraduate student. The room located in between laboratory assistant room and the Department head room, which is my co-supervisor’s room. Sometimes, my co-supervisor visited postgraduate student room just to chat with students about their research progress and give some advice to each one of them.

Almost a year ago, I started my research about avian malaria in layer chicken. Therefore, I must find layer chicken farm in four districts of Yogyakarta. However, I have no idea where they were since I was born and raised in Bogor. I only came to Yogyakarta for two things: vacation and for Master’s degree.

My supervisor, which used to be poultry veterinarian and once had layer farm, told me some area where I could find layer chicken farm easily. However, he did not gave me specific address of the farms. Which became a challenge for me. One of my friend who is undergo PhD in parasitology, suggested me to find the location from Google Earth then street view.

“Poultry farm has distinctive image on Google Earth, you know… like it is long from west to east and lined up,” She said.

She told me that because she was undergo Bachelor’s and Professional degree (DVM) in the same university. Thus, after take a look on several location that I believed to be a layer farm, I marked around 8 to 16 each districts. That was because at first, I planned to take around 340 chicken blood samples. But, I changed my mind after consulting to my friends and supervisors about the sufficiency of samples based on the epidemiological side, and decided to only use 137 chickens blood samples for my thesis.

Final location of 137 samples that I took from layer farms in four districts of Yogyakarta

I was thinking that it must be tiring because I have to drive more than 100 km back and forth to just survey the farm and asked the owner for their permission to take blood samples from their layer chickens. Then I have to took another 70 — 100 km, for each farm, when the farmer allowed me.

Several days before I visited farm in one district for survey. My professor which also my co-supervisor gave me and other parasitology postgraduate student a pep talk. Then he said something like this:

“Do not make sampling process as a burden, just enjoy it. So you will not easily get tired while sampling.”

I remember that one of my anatomy lecture when I was in Bachelor’s degree said more or less the same thing about how to deal with learning difficulty or laziness. In the middle of his lecture, he said more or less like this:

“Whenever you want to learn something, try to love it and make it your passion. So, you will enjoy it.”

I keep it in my mind and implemented what they said while I was surveying and taking blood samples from one farm to another, and from one district to another.

My aunt’s sturdy 17 years old motorcycle that she lend me and cool-box covered with mostly housefly (Musca domestica) when I parked it near poultry farm (left); Mt. Merapi, one of active volcano in Indonesia (right)

From high ground of Pakem, Sleman (left); to low-land of Karangwuni, Kulon Progo (right)

They were right. My eyes were pampered by the beauty of scenery from the place that I never been before. Even though it was hard and tiring because sometimes I have to deal with scorching day or heavy rain, rejection, rocky trails and other adversity during sampling process.

Sometimes the farmers were baffled because I know their farm location and I, a woman, was riding motorcycle for about 35 — 56 km to their farm, to take blood samples from their chickens, alone.

Yes, everything was new for me and it started to grow inside me.

I can say that I am quiet happy with the result that I got because I put great effort and my own resource for my study in veterinary science and that research. My supervisors and another lecturer who became my thesis evaluator also praised me for that. Yet still, I can say that I am not content with my research because there are things I really want to observe regarding avian malaria. One of the reason because of something that I found in my study.

One of my Plasmodium juxtanucleare sequences in GenBank

Luckily, a part of my research also accepted in one of prestigious journal. The journal was ranked Q1 based on Scopus in Veterinary Medicine. I was over the moon after waited about 2 months and 2 weeks for their decision of my manuscript. Moreover, I also put the DNA sequence that I got to the GenBank. Hopefully it will be beneficial for another avian malaria researcher all over the world.

My first journal and first Q1 journal that I wrote as first author.

Again, everything was new for me.

I wish someday I have an opportunity to become one of great scientists or most influential people which can give substantial impact to society from my research. I completely aware it takes years of perseverance, determination, and courage to achieve that goal. I also aware that my thesis research challenge was part per billion hurdles that I have to face in the future. Nonetheless, again, I have to face the music and enjoy and love every bit of it in order to reach a finish line.