Advisor

The degree I'm working on is what they call interdisciplinary. I think thats a euphemistic way to say one-who-attempts-is-crazy, a lovely and light-hearted blend of Math, Statistics, Chemistry, Biology and Computer Science. Yeah, master all of those in 2 years.

The degree is housed out of the Math department, which is unfortunate since I already have a Math degree and don't need anymore assistance in that area. This makes my advisor, who is brilliant and who I respect greatly, somewhat a hood ornament since he cannot give me advise in the areas other than Math.

I decided after taking the HIV course, that I would make HIV Prof my unofficial Biology advisor, really the bulk of the next year will be all graduate level bio. I made an appointment with HIV prof.

I walked into the waiting room for his office, the door is partially cracked. I hear

"Fuck, fuckity fuck fuck, what the fuck, you fucking shit box piece of crap mother ..."

"Hi, am I interrupting?" I blurted, almost laughing at the obvious lashing out at his computer.

"OH, Hi Jim, not at all, come on in", swiveling around in his big cushy chair.

"Trouble?", I smirked, as if I didnt already have a clue.

"Well I cant get my file with the grades to save! Fucker!", snarling again motioning to the computer.

I fixed his problem simply and we went on with our meeting. During our meeting I wanted his opinion on a variety of classes still left to take, some classes he teaches, some from other professors.

"Oh HIM, hes a dickhead"

"Oh HER, yeah shes got a stick up her ass, cant stand to be questioned."

"Oh, maybe I shouldn't be talking so freely with the door open."

Of course he did cover himself by explaining that these were stories related to him from graduate students who worked for these professors. But still, this is extraordinary in academia where every word is highly scrutinized, every response is strategic and politcal in nature, every action must have a contingency in the unfortunate situation of academic feuding.

I have to say that HIV prof is my all time favorite instructor, not only for his obvious dismantling of social protocol, which of course appeals to my 'keep it real', uber contrarian nature but also that he is intelligent, ultimately concerned that you learn something and he's never too busy to help.

I look forward to Fall since I will once again be in one, perhaps two of his courses.