2006-12-07 - 9:59 a.m.

..wheels are turning...

This morning I got an email from the dean of the faculty, asking me if I would be interested in having his daughter work in my lab over the summer. I knew that the dean was keen on this project, but I wasn't aware of his reasons. I'm guessing that I cannot say no to this one...And would I want to? I guess it makes me a little bit nervous because the situation will HAVE to go well. At the same time, it's a means of setting up a relationship with the dean's office that is NOT based on the loss of my boxes.

Yesterday I had a meeting with the head of recruitment within our faculty just for this reason - I want to recruit girls to work in my laboratory so that they have useful experiences that encourage them to pursue science in college. The idea was met with enthusiasm from the recruitment office, and skepticism by the other faculty member who was invited to attend the meeting. I am not sure how much stock I put in this other woman's skepticism, however, because she and I are clearly VERY different people. Put kindly, she seemed interested mostly in the bottom line; I am interested in using this effort to further my research, but largely as a community outreach. So even though our interaction was a bit prickly, I was able to get some useful contacts out of the skeptical faculty member.

At the same time, I've received an email from a very promising student from Minnesota, one who is interested in pursuing graduate studies with me. His CV looks fabulous, and he would be a great asset to my lab! I'm working on a positive response to him right away.

All positive things, and opportunities for my research to move forward.

***

On another note, I guess I'm not surprised to learn that my impressions of Sweden were offensive to someone. Apologies that I took liberties generalizing about ALL Swedes, and yes, this was done for purposes of artistic license within my diary. I respect that there are many good things about the country and that other people have - for good reason - had great times there. At the same time, I hope that another person's love of Sweden does not diminish my personal experiences (the stories I related were all true). No matter how much I step back to recognize the positive aspects of the place, it cannot change the fact I was really unhappy and did not fit in there.