coldhearted scientist وداد

The other thing about working is that if you have the luxury of considering not working out, then you do not have a hard job and you cannot complain, or ask me to devote not only part of my research time but also part of my recreational blog to proving that what you do is work.

I learned this freshman year. You may have ended up in a freshman dorm with beer, but I ended up in an international dorm which turned out to be a largely graduate dorm with students in very difficult programs. Every day they ran farther and lifted heavier weights.

They soon decided that since some of my courses were upper division and others were the versions of the courses designed for majors, not for non majors, I probably needed this workout, too. What is your objective? I inquired of my interlocutor, who was speaking to me in almost-Chinese.

My objective? said he. My objective is that at the end of this term I go up against five professors, of whom two are Nobel Prize winners and three are almost as famous. I am on a J-1 visa and this is a qualifying, not a preliminary examination; I need to pass it now. If I do not do this workout I will not have the physical strength I need to study all the things I must, or the quality of sleep I need to assimilate it all.

I do not remember the name of this person but in that conversation I learned how to prepare for work. And although I do not remember his name I remember that we went to his graduation the next year, since the family was countries away. I remember him coming up on onto the stage, beaming, and “I confer upon you…”, and how he walked as athletes do, with more strength in every sinew than they really need.

That was in those days and in a more privileged place, but it is still true.

Axé.