On Making a Mess

So if I've learned anything by being an undergraduate in a lab, it's that I have to tread lightly. In hard sciences, the professors are generally insane. Their graduate students are going insane, and undergraduates in the same lab are typically beginning to show symptoms of something being wrong. Everyone has varying degrees of anality that you must learn, or risk becoming unpopular or even worse, a victim of a scolding. One example of a degree of anality is what constitutes making and leaving a mess. This is just like a quarrel with a roommate but with space related to your and other people's academic future, just because a lab looks like complete shit does not mean that all of shit has its own space and you had better not disturb or add to that.

One of the graduate students that I have been working with has been generous about giving tips out about how not to piss of professors. There are other qualities that he has that I try to emulate. He's a bibliophile -- especially regarding his research. I know he's a PhD candidate and has to work his ass off just to finish in five yearsbut it just really smacks of hard work and dedication. I try to be as meticuluous as he is, because how else does one get places?

It's getting to the point where hard work can only come in short bursts because my brain is so exhausted from trying to keep up with these crazies running around the lab.