How do you say thanks?

I need to blog about a mentor of mine.

I cannot use his full name, as he would be mortified by being blogged about, but only because of his humble nature. So, we will call him "Dr. A".

I met "Dr. A" when I was doing my undergrad at the University of Manitoba. He was a professor for one of my second year courses. During the course, he made an announcement that, unbeknown to me at the time, would change my life. He told us about "NSERC" (Natural Science and Engineering Research Council) scholarships for undergrads interested in gaining research experience during the summer. After class I asked if I could work for him through one of these grants. To make a long story short, he helped me with my application, I was granted one, and I started in his lab that summer. Although the scholarship was only for a few months, I landed up working in his lab, year-round, for years to come.

When university classes were on, his primary rule was "School comes first." When school pressures grew, he expected my work hours to shrink. It didn't matter to him if this happened to set things back in the lab. School came first. During the summer, he accommodated me for when I wanted to go home and help my parents on the farm. [Now, what other employer would agree to this kind of schedule: "If it rains in Dauphin, I'll be here, but when it doesn't, I won't be."]

Not only was this man accommodating and understanding, but he was also merciful. Although I may have worked in a lab for years - I wasn't the 'best' employee around. Oh sure, I was honest, loyal, and a hard worker, but I was also a klutz and a little absent-minded at times. I spilled stuff, I made really silly mistakes, I came up with results that were a little more than worrisome. In the years I worked there, I probably cost the guy at least twice my salary in mistakes. He never angered. He listened, tried to help with the troubleshooting, and carried on with business. I remember one day in particular, when I finally figured out why the results of the last month's samples were so skewed - if you could believe, I had my excel spreadsheet set up wrong. Seriously, we had been repeating biochemical analyses over the last few weeks in order to decipher where the errors were coming from, and all along it was my oversight! I dragged myself into his office, teared up, and told him. I also told him that I didn't think I was suited to working in a lab, considering. His response? "It isn't those who make mistakes, no matter what kind of mistakes, that I worry about. Because everyone makes mistakes. It is the employees who "don't" make mistakes that concern me..."

Over the years in the lab, my confidence grew and so did my interest in research. He encouraged me to apply for grad studies, and asked me to climb aboard as a graduate student in his lab. I couldn't believe it, he was offering an additional three year commitment to me as a supervisor. I thought he was counting down the days until I graduated and finally left! [The nature of these undergraduate NSERC awards is to work for a summer, then move on. I, on the other, wasn't leaving...] The due date for graduate fellowships was approaching, and he got straight to work on helping me with my application. I remember the day before it was due, I was a little shaky on the abstract still and in an act of desperation, I e-mailed it off to him that evening. I didn't think I had a hope, because I knew he was at a conference and probably wouldn't be receiving it. In the morning, I found an edited (well, maybe we should call it "re-vamped") version of my application in my in-box. He stayed up, in his hotel room, the night before editing it for me.

As I entered my final semester as an undergrad, and my trip to Cambodia was approaching, we started talking more about my life goals, my gaining interest in international work, and the possibility of missionary work being in my and my new fiance's future. He encouraged me not to sell myself short, and be sure to look into other grad schools to make sure no one else out there had a program that was more suitable to my interests.

Soon thereafter, Tom and I found ourselves in Vancouver, Edmonton, and Montreal for interviews with potential graduate supervisors. On the flight on the way back to Winnipeg from my interview in Montreal, I wanted to throw up...Tom and I were just offered a deal of a lifetime if I attended McGill University.

What was I suppose to tell Dr. A? The man who piqued my interest in research, who spent years training me in the lab, who asked me to come on as a graduate student, who stayed up to edit my application, who helped me land a full graduate scholarship???

Again, I dragged myself into his office, teared up, and told him. His response? "That's the problem with great students, they leave."

Within a few weeks I received news that I won additional graduate scholarships that he had taken the time to nominate me for. He told me he wanted me to succeed, whether at the U of M or elsewhere. And I continued to work in his lab until the 3 days before my wedding.

He has supported all of our missionary ventures, drove all the way out to Clear Lake for our wedding, and checks in via e-mail every once in a while to see how we are doing.

A month ago we received word that a manuscript that we have been working on for the past 2 years was accepted for publication. Two days ago he sent me a congratulations letter that it finally hit the press. Honestly, it would have been way easier for him to just write the manuscript himself, but instead he opted to guide, and guide, and guide me through the editing process.

I will be forever indebted to Dr. A, and I am honoured to have my name published along side his.