Today I said goodbye to my supervisor. While he will forever remain my supervisor, the next time I will see me he will no longer be my boss. Sadly, he will not be here for my convocation. Nor for when I leave for Adelaide next month. I chocked again, as when I wanted to thank him during my defense. I think he was troubled too, but whether it was because he will miss me or he was scared that I was going to hug him or kiss him on the cheek or something, I do not know.
For you see, our prof is very very shy. The kind of shy that if he were to suddenly be in the limelight (outside professional limelights) he would be so distressed and shudder as if a cold, slimy snake (no offense to snakes!) would suddenly slither up his back. And by limelight in this case would be if somebody would say, ask him what was the color of his t-shirt yesterday or wether he would like prawns or cuttlefish for dinner.
While we have not been friends (and imagine, i was his golden child! how shy can one be?!), he has been a very good professional mentor to me. I do not know about him, but I know that I will miss him immensely. And in truth, the only reason why I am still considering a career in research (rather than only in teaching) is because I think it would make him proud. I guess that in this respect a part of this Chinese make-your-elders-proud has rubbed on me as well.
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