Our Center hosts a two month research program every summer for thirty or so undergraduates, and a lesser number of high school students and teachers. It's a surprising amount of work for those of us who volunteer as mentors, but is also a fair amount of fun, and always satisfying. The students come from all over the country, from colleges of all descriptions.
My mentat this summer is a student from our school who just finished her freshman year. She is intelligent, ambitious, overprivileged (drives a nicer car than I do), and reminds me of my favorite philosophy professor's observation that, "no one on Earth knows more than a college sophomore." She had a great time and tied for first in the poster competition, but that's not important right now.*
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| I do all of the grocery shopping. Image from here. |
We built a rapport, since she exudes the insecurity inherent to being nineteen and I am generally awesome. During one of her daily drop-ins to my office she mentioned that I had acquired a nickname among the summer students. She said something about her mentor, and several of the students replied, "You mean Jeff Bridges?" She is too young and normal to know
which of his roles had likely inspired the comparison, but I knew immediately. I guess there are some things we really don't live down.
* And don't call me Shirley.
This brought a smile... both the reference to The One And Only Dude, and Airplane....
ReplyDeletei am always amazed when colleagues suggest me as a mentor to young, impressionable humans, but it is often the best part of my day. Because the little buggers are watching, it also forces me to 'up my game' and make an effort to be something other than a burnout. Hmmm.... maybe that's why my boss keeps sending them to my office?