Winter

Campus Crush
Charming wits
Lualhati

“Brave is the soul that fights the unknown.”

Just as the plane prepares for departure, Corraine Esparagozza sighed heavily, it will be a long-hour
trip, travelling far to a place she had never been before. The engine revved up as she closes her eyes,
reminiscing her days as a freshman—starting college in a clean slate, not knowing what the future has in
store for her, but one thing is for sure, Corraine had envisioned herself to be clad in white with a
stethoscope around her neck.

Four years of learning theories, doing laboratory experiments, studying for tests, and complying
requirements. Four years of acing her classes and excelling in her field. This had prepared her for the
biggest leap of her life, Corraine delivered her paper in Jeju, South Korea during the Second International
Conference on Pharma Sciences and Biotechnology (ICPSB 2018) last January 18-20, 2018. A moment
of glory, this is a dream turned reality.

Corraine dreams of being a doctor someday. She took up BS-Biology believing that she will achieve
this dream. As she went along her journey, she learned that this program is not just about dissecting
animals or just learning terms—it is an endless adventure that connects us to the world we live in and
reminds us of our interconnectedness with other life forms.

“It wasn’t that easy.” Corraine had to invest a lot of sleepless nights just to come up with a scientific
paper presentation and had to go through a hefty load of laboratory works. “It was fun and worth it, the
challenges honed me to be a competent researcher.” Her parents inspired her to take risks. “One thing
they never failed to teach me is to have faith and to just be brave with whatever the world might throw at
you. Both of them taught me the value of education and how to always be grateful despite the
circumstances that you will encounter.” She said.

The cold gust of wind was foreign enough to remind her that she is no longer within the comforts of
her home, “I can do this.” She said to herself. Scanning around an overwhelming crowd of walking PhDs,
she was the youngest of the delegates. “I met really smart and good friends that helped and inspired me as
a student pursuing success. All of the scientific learnings that I got from the conference was a big help for
me as a young researcher and I will forever carry the wisdom in my heart.”

Corraine was given the Best Presentation Award for her paper “Antimicrobial, Characterization,
Phytochemical analysis and Cytotoxic Level of Chloroform, Acetone and Hexane Leaf Extracts of
Paspalumconjugatum (Sour Paspalum)."

Being an achiever does not mean she had an easier path than most students—experiencing ups and
downs and coping up with them, but difficulties took its toil as she reached fourth year, pressure is piling
up. As she manages to work out her thesis, she also had struggles being early for class. “I have learned
that it’s better to be early, than to arrive late, because you might miss some important points in the class
that would be of great help when the exam comes.”

When life challenges Corraine, she always holds onto inspiration from her friends and family. Two
years ago, her grandmother passed away. Corraine sat beside her lola, “You need to get well soon,” tears
flowing; but her lola just smiled, “Please be good and be a doctor for me,” and it became her parting
words. “She deemed good things about me, when I heard that, all the more I became inspired to do well in
school because she was one of my inspirations in life.”

During times of hardships and disappointments, Corraine had always prayed to God for guidance and
strength. “Even when life seemed hard, all at once, God will always make a way to help you survive.”

Corraine now faces a new endeavor of her life—Med school, another chapter, a new beginning. When
asked what was her best experience in college, it was her achievements, “The most important thing to
remember about risk-taking is that without taking that risk, you’ll never know what could happen. Even
though it is like gambling with life, every risk has an effect that it will leave on your life, whether it be
negative or positive, it is important to test it. You’ll never know what the outcome will be without trying
it.” There are a lot of opportunities in college that students will never get to experience after graduating,
making the most out of every opportunity, and taking risks will make the journey memorable.

“The world is a wide arena, and you don’t get to pick your battles. You don’t get to pick your
identity, your race and even your parents. But you can always make a difference by facing your
challenges in life wholeheartedly with an open mind. I believe there is no such thing as losing, just
learning. That’s how I see life, and every time I felt like losing, although tears might be there, but I will
always see problems as a life-learning lesson and as a chance for me to grow, as a person.” Corraine said.

     
If curiosity pushes you to venture new things, fear holds you back, but that fear did not stop Corraine
from achieving her goals.