SCITECH RECENTLY: To All the Labs I Loved Before
By: Ainee Verdillo and Vince Salvatierra
There are two types of students in the College of Science: those working on their love life and on their lab life. There is nothing wrong with finding a significant other, since ironically, it has the same weight as finding your future career path. “Your career path is bound to change on what you imagine it to be’’, a message left by Mr. Leoh Salvacio G. Dioso in his Youth Lecture entitled ‘#LabLife’ held at Blas Hall last March 20.
Microbiology and biology students are still on their quest to find a guaranteed path after college. Fortunately, Mr. Dioso’s lecture on his journey to becoming a professional enlightened students from 2MICRO and 3IBIO. He shared that as a former BS Microbiology student himself, his initial plan was to pursue medicine. This dream was cut short as he needed to find a stable livelihood after graduation. Soon enough, his expertise in microbiology led him to love industrial microbiology and pharmaceutics.
His first lab life was with Euro-Med Laboratories Inc., which lasted for 5 years. He started as an on-duty microbiologist and was a colleague with the now Department of Biological Sciences instructor, Mr.Justin Abengaña, overseeing quality control and assessment of intravenous fluids and sterile drinking water.
For one semester, he tried pursuing the academe by teaching food microbiology and parasitology, yet lab life still lingered at the back of his mind. This prompted his decision to work with Interphil Laboratories Inc. as a Plant Hygiene Manager. He realized the demand for microbiologists in the industry when he had to come to the lab first before anyone else and leave last just to make sure that equipment and processes were in their original condition.
Two years passed until he met the current lab of his life, Amherst Laboratories Inc. When asked by a student if he was happy, without hesitation, he says yes. In this laboratory, he works as the Quality Control Microbiology Head and finds the hustle and bustle of the industry rewarding. What awaits Mr. Leoh? He intends to move on to vaccine development and finish his Master’s degree in Microbiology, further blooming his lab life.
No matter how much we plan our future, fate continues to surprise us with uncertainties. For him, microbiology may not be his first choice, but it surely was his best decision at the end. Mr. Leoh Dioso loves this industry and the industry in a way loves him back, that is his lab life.
