One thin slice at a time.

During my second year in the university, I was elected to the position of social secretary for the students’ Pharmaceutical Society, not because I was popular, but because it was a job that nobody wanted. You see the social secretary exists mainly for one purpose: to raise fund and to organized the society’s annual dinner and dance. It was a monumental task for any team imaginable. I had a hard time forming a team because I can’t find even one person in my class who’d sit on my committee. (I don’t blame them, I would have done the same under the circumstance.) To make matter worse, the school decided from that year on to stop direct admission, choosing to select from those who had completed first year in Science. As I don’t have a pool of juniors to fill my committee, I am alone holding a very hot potato.

I called some hotels for quotes and did a quick estimate. Due to the small number of seat (the total number of students in Pharmacy is under 60) and the resultant high overhead, the price per head came to a whopping $120. As i didn’t want to ask the society of limited means to subsidies, I would have to raise about $6,000 (excluding door gifts and prizes) just to keep ticket price at $40 each. I realize right away I stood no chance of raising that kind of money on my own. In addition, there are also the work of coordination, getting sponsorship for prizes, hiring a band, games, etc; way too much details for just one person to handle.

For the next few months I tried to find help and guidance from the seniors in the third year, but they all have withdrawn into the mugging mode. I was desperate for any idea to get started but no one came to offer assistance or suggestions. My study started to go downhill as I became increasingly more irritable and unkempt. Then one day Dr Alagaratnum, my Pharmaceutics lecturer took me aside in his lab and asked me: “How do you eat a big, fat salami sausage ?” After a few moment of dumb silence from me, he answered: “One thin slice at a time.” Then he kept silent and just looked at me with his big round eyes. When realization finally dawned on me after what felt like a long, long time, he nodded knowingly and paced off.

That encounter with Dr Alagar had given me the insight on the approach to take: Break down the task into the smallest chunks possible and just go at it one tiny bit at a time. So I decided NOT to bother with raising fund as it was an unattainable goal given the circumstance, and just concentrate on organising the event. In short, I worked my butt off in the following months, one task at a time, and managed to hold the Annual Dinner (no Dance) at the middle of the second semester. It was a casual evening by the pool of the then Medical Alumni building. If anyone was unhappy about how it turned out, he kept it to himself. In any case, I really couldn’t care less for any grievance raised as I had done my upmost, with my conscience and sanity intact.

If I learned anything in this episode, it was these:

  • Any task, however large,can be overcome by breaking it into more manageable chunks,
  • If I had done my best to complete the tasks, I can rest easy with no fear of recrimination.

Thanks, Dr Alagar, for the salami lesson.