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June 06, 2004
The Good Doctor
My good friend 'L' did her dissertation defense on Friday and she passed.
For the last few weeks, I have been helping her with her data and giving her constant encouragement. I've seen her become giddy with joy when some complicated test on her data resulted in something unexpected. I've seen her become morose when she would see the enormity of the task ahead of her.
But I believed in her. I knew she had the data, she had the knowledge. And I knew she could put the two together. I stayed up with her, sometimes until 5a, sometimes until 8a. I wrote programs for her, encouraged her. Many a sleepless night ensued.
But all of it was worth it. Worth it to see the text message saying "I passed!". Worth it to know I had a small role in helping a friend conquer a big challenge. But what really made it worth it was talking to her the last couple of nights. She not only thanked me for the help with the data, saying that words cannot describe how much she was thankful for my help and for me being in her life.
She told me she could not have done it without my help. As flattered as I am, I doubt she's right on that count. But then she said the most unexpected, most emotional thing. She told me that she took strength from my encouragement. That she was able to continue when she thought all was lost, in part, because I believed in her.
I don't know about you, but that is a powerful statement. That's something amazing to me. Someone, my friend, on the verge of giving up, took strength from what I could offer her. That's just too powerful for words.
I wish, still wish, I could have been there on Friday. She did a great job without my being there, but I wish I could have witnessed it. The culmination of 28 years of education.
Congratulations, Dr. Van. Congratulations, my friend.
Posted by Samer at June 6, 2004 11:07 AM
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