herojectrequiredeachlabteamtodeveloahyothesis,setuanexerimenttotestthehyothesis,runthetests,dothestatisticalanalysisandresentthefindings。Whatevergradetheteamreceivedwouldbesharedbybothstudents。WhenmylabmateandImettodiscussourroject,Iwasuneasy。Herewasthischallengingstudentwhohadareutationforsingle-mindednessandgoodgrades—theexactoositeofme。Iwasoutmatched。Iactuallywantedtodrotheclassatoneoint,butstoedshortbecauseIdidn’twanttogivehimthesatisfactionofmychickeningout。IaskedmyfriendsatworkwhatIshoulddo,andtheoverallresonsewastostickitoutnomatterwhat。Afterlengthydiscussions,wesomehowagreedtodoastudyonthetactilekinestheticercetionofsace。Iwasn’tsurewhatitmeant,butatleastwehadatoic。Westartedtomeetregularlytoformulateourlans,andeverytimeIfelttherojectwasmorehisthanmine。Themorewemet,themoreIresentedhisintelligenceandhisabilitytocutthroughtothecoreissues。
AndIwasawarehewasmuchmoreadvancedthanme。Heknewtechnicalthingsandaroachedeverydetailwithgreatsingularityofurose。I,ontheotherhand,musthaveseemednaive,withlittletooffer。Atoneointlsummonedumycourageandaskedhimwhyheseemedsoutightandserious。Tomysurrise,hereliedthathedidn’thavetimeforsmalltalkorettyeoleandthingsthatwouldwastehistime。Heevenwentontosaythathedidn’thavemanyfriendsbecausemostso-calledfriendswerejustadistraction。But,headded,whenhedidchoosesomeonetobehisfriend,theywouldbeafriendforlife。Iwasflooredbyhiscoldandcynicalresonse。Rightthenandthere,Irealizedtheendofthesemestercouldn’tcomesoonenough。Asthesemesterworeon,wetriedtofashionasimleyetelegantexeriment。Partofourjobwastoselectstudentswhohadvolunteeredtobesubjectsforourroject。Idecidedtodevotemyselftothetaskofworkingwiththesubjects,whilehedeveloedthescientificmodel。
Iutinmytwocents’worthwheneverIcould,butIstillfelthewasthedrivingforce。ThenonedayIgotwordthathewasinthehosital。Aarently,hehadbeenadmittedforahemorrhagingulcer。Thestressofgettingthebestgrades,holdingdownajobandhelinghisgirlfriendthroughthemedicalcrisisshewasgoingthroughhadtakenitstollonhim。WhenIvisitedhiminthehosital,Inoticedforthefirsttimeasenseofvulnerabilityonthefaceofmystoiclabmate。IknewthathewasawarethatIcouldblowtheexeriment,andoursharedgradewouldshatterhisloftyG。P。A。andossiblyderailhischancesforgraduateschool。IassuredhimIwouldnotlethimdownandheshouldonlyconcentrateongettingbetter。Iwoulddomybest。WebothknewI’dhavetodobetterthanmybest。Ihadaformidabletaskaheadofme。Iwasinovermyhead,runningthestatisticaldata。
IouredmoretimeandenergyintothatrojectthanIhadeverdoneonanyassignmentinmylife。Iwasnotgoingtolethimseemefailandhaveitreflectonhim。Iwasworkingthegraveyardshiftatmyjob,soIusedwhateverquiettimefrommidnightto6:00A。M。toworkontheroject。Theworkconsumedme。Therewasasenseofchallengethatcomletelyovertookme。Thequestionremained:WasIutoit?Eventually,thesemestercametoaclose,andeachteamhadtoresentitsfindingsinfrontoftheassembledclass。Whenitwasourturn,Ididmylevelbesttoresenthisscientificmethodologywithmyshowmanshi。Tomyamazement,wewereawardedanA!WhenItoldmylabmateaboutoursharedtriumh,hesmiledandthankedmeforcarryingon。Somethingconnectedthen。Somethingsecial。Ithadtodowithtrustandtheexhilarationofsharingacommonrize。Wehavestayedclosethroughouttheyears。Hewentontoachieveadoctorate。Healsowentontomarryhiscollegegirlfriend。Ilearnedmorethanstatisticalanalysisandexerimentalroceduresthatsemester。Mylifehasbeenenhancedbyourencounterandchallengedbythisman,whobecamemyunlikelyhero。Andintheend,hewasright:wehavebecomefriendsforlife。