Reaction on Custer Deocaris' talk

Charles Verdad

2010-04288

Starstruck.

If I just happen to hear him on a radio program, I wouldn’t believe that Mr. Custer Deocaris has a Ph D. Somehow society has given me the impression that someone with a Ph D should look like an old, white-haired professor with glasses. A stereotypical person with a Ph D should be so dedicated to his field that somehow conversations would be boring. But when Mr. Deocaris was interviewed by our professor in class, he answered the questions in a lively way – as if we were watching a talk show.

He talked about how he became freer in college as opposed to his former self in high school. He joined a political org, got involved with theater arts, and took creative writing classes on top of his acad load in MBB. He graduated with latin honors and just when I thought “if only he play sports...”, he told us that he used to be on a dragonboat team. He also told us how he went to Japan and accidentally applied to study chem instead of bio, and how he managed to impress the professors during his entrance exam by his entertaining presentation. Aside from this, he also talked about his past time of writing bills, and pushing advocacies such as meatless Mondays, etc. Being a people person has greatly helped him in his work, and at the end of his talk he suggested that we should smile always and eat vegetables.

After hearing all he had to say, I was startstruck - He is probably the most well rounded person I know. Coming from the same high school (even college) as he is, I felt like I should be doing more with my life. His story has greatly inspired me to fear less and to do better in the field that I chose. Though people have different views in success in life,  I respect his determination to pursue the things he love, and to help out others (in his advocacies, radio shows, etc.) along the way – this makes him successful in his own way.

Lastly, his talk has also reminded me that whatever knowledge or skill I learn from my field, it would be useless if I didn’t have the necessary people skills to supplement it with – because at the end of the day, you just can’t separate Science and technology from the society.