My PhD advisor was in the lab on one of his daily checks to see how things were going. In the course of the conversation he told one student who was blue about how badly things were going that "When things are tough you have to work harder in order to get through the bad times." About a minute later after being told how my work had turned a corner and was going well he advised that, "Things in the lab don't go well that often, so you need to work harder during those positive times to take advantage of the up cycle before it is gone." Being even more brash then I am now I burst out laughing. In response to my mentor's scowl over my response to his sage advice, I pointed out that in a couple of minutes he had made the case that there is no time in which the graduate student should not be working harder. (As a faculty member I now believe he was right, but that is beside the point.)
It is embarrassing to consider the nuggets of wisdom your students will carry forward. For someone who cares deeply about the skills I pass to my students I shake my head when I discover what they have carried away.
Several years ago I was in communication with one of my earliest students. He claimed that the best advice I ever gave him was, "When preparing for a career, strive to master a set of skills that can't be duplicated by trained chimps."
While I wish I could say I never said such a thing, it may be something I said.
No comments:
Post a Comment