Changes to the Study Programme

Studying at FAU it’s an experience of its own. There are a lot of situations that occur on a daily basis that are either good and fun or sad and annoying.
Starting with the curriculum, I think there is a problem with universities across the country, because, mostly in the first year of college, there are a lot of classes that are fillers for the curriculum. Comparing architecture, in Chile we study up to 6 years only for only an undergraduate diploma, while in other countries, you can do that in just as long as 4 years.

In addition to that, workload is something, I think, that varies from career to career. For all three careers at FAU, there is a lot of work that we have to do, and I think that it’s okay because moving forward in our careers, there is more knowledge that you need to get, so the way of getting that is to start working on it to learn it. Now, all of us struggle with balancing all of the work, because it’s difficult to get enough time for everything, and the faculty doesn’t have all of the tools that all thousands of students that it haves, needs to get their work done.

Therefore, there are a few changes that I’d do to make the experience at FAU a little bit more enjoyable. Starting with getting rid of the classes that are fillers and don’t imply a lot of importance to the career overall. Then, moving on to infrastructure, there’s a lot that FAU needs to improve. From facilitating more spaces to students to work on, to putting more microwaves for us to heat our food, or getting more technology that allows us to get ahead on our work, like more laser cutting machines or printing devices.

However, I’ve had a great time at FAU, even though sometimes I’d prefer to leave everything and live in the woods, there’s a lot of ups and downs, but the good times outweigh the bad.

2019 Holidays

For the upcoming year’s holidays, I’d like to relax for a little while. Since this year has been pretty long academically, it doesn’t end until January, I’d like to spend my time relaxing for the next year activities. As I see it, the firsts weeks after ending this semester would be spent sleeping in or staying at home, maybe watching some Netflix, but after that I’d like to visit different places if I get the chance to.

I strongly believe that we should get to know the different places that our home country offers us, so I’d like to explore more of the north of Chile, because I’ve already gone to the south a few times. Places like La Serena, Coquimbo, even Antofagasta or Iquique, and who knows, maybe utilize the trip there and cross the border to Peru, because I think it’s a cool place, and I’ve never left the country before.

I agree that trips like that sometimes require planning and time, but if none of those trips happen, I’m completely content with staying in Santiago and spend time with my family, my boyfriend and my friends. Otherwise, I totally agree with going on trips for the day to near cities or beaches, because they make fun memories and don’t require a lot of planning beforehand. Trips like that can be very tiring, that’s quite true, but I think those are the best ways to spend the holidays with friends and have a good time overall.

Should Eutanasia or Physician-Assisted Suicide be legal?

Let´s imagine that you are diagnosed with a terminal disease. This disease is incurable, and your body will have to experience all the ups and downs of it until you cannot deal with it anymore. Would you rather go through all of it, or be assisted to a dignified death? That’s why Euthanasia is being discussed nowadays and it’s becoming a really loud topic in the science and legal field. From my perspective, physician-assisted suicide should be legalized for all communities.

Although many other assure that a physician’s ethic is to cure their patients, due to their Hippocratic Oath of ‘Do no harm to the patient’, I think that making them go through a long, discomforting and painful road to their inevitable death isn’t exactly a way of making them ‘no harm’. As MD Robert Olvera says ‘To prolong a death in some cases is not helpful, it can be counterproductive.’ because this will affect them in all ways possible, from their own health, to their monetary state to deal with their disease, and how their pain will affect their loved ones.

Likewise, I think that by approving legally the right of having a physician-assisted suicide we’re not obligating people to have euthanasia, the same way that people are not obligated to donate their organs to others, or even donate their body to science. All of those are rights that we as people are free to choose or not to choose, and that goes to each individual and what situation are going through, and if they feel that their time is enough, or don’t feel strong enough to continue with a battle that they don’t want to.

Therefore, I think that Euthanasia should be a right for all people, for both parts. Either the patients that needs it, and the doctor choosing to help these people or not to. We cannot obligate people to choose things that they don’t want to do, so obligating people to live when they don’t feel strong enough to, is harming the patients, physically, mentally and emotionally.