One of the main reasons I got into research in the first place was the challenge involved in designing and conducting experiments in order to investigate a specific question.
Being able to combine teaching and research in my current position has been one of the coolest things I’ve ever done and has kept me going through some shitty days.
Anyway, enough with the philosophizing and stuff ... on with the story ...
My undergrad summer
I had to take care of some routine medical stuff yesterday and wasn’t able to go into the lab but was confident the student could handle everything herself so she and I had gone through what needed to be done in my absence.
I’m very, very proud to say that when I finally arrived home late in the afternoon, I had an email from the student telling me that she’d had a shitty day because nothing had gone right from the moment she had stepped foot in the door but that she had successfully managed to troubleshoot everything that had gone wrong and was multi-tasking in order to get more stuff done.
I am still amazed that my relatively-inexperienced-but-very-mature student has picked up so many skills in such a short amount of time and that she was able to successfully complete a problematic day in the lab without having me there for backup.
Sigh.
Even in between all the bullshit that comes with this job, there are moments that make me smile.
8 comments:
I think its awesome that your student sent you the "I'm having a shitty day everything's gone pear-shaped, but I figured it out" email. Speaks volumes about her and you, both.
That's fantastic! Congrats to you for having an awesome student, and for being an awesome advisor :)
You are learning to be a leader!
that is so awesome. good for her. and good for you.
I hope you tell her what a good thing it is that she is able to handle her work this way. She might take it for granted or think that she's actually not doing well, because of the struggles she had.
Anon: I sent her an email telling her how proud I am of her progress and that she is already more capable in the lab than a lot of grad students and postdocs (she is) ... apparently that made her cry!
Did you expect this when you hired this student? In other words, was there a clear signal that indicated this student would be able to handle these types of challenges? I'm also a new prof and am still trying to figure out the obvious signs of a good student.
Dr Addled: this student was in one of my classes and her maturity, inquisitive nature and obvious drive to learn and improve were all positive indicators. Sometimes you just never know until you have them in the lab though as good students can have bad lab hands or be incapable of learning how to troubleshoot ... and sometimes mediocre students can shine in this environment.
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