An unfair fact of grad school is that persistent extroverts have an easier time extracting high-value tacit knowledge from their mentors.
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Replying to @MathPrinceps @gogreen18
But never forget that, of all god's creatures, the grad student is the most vulnerable.
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Replying to @MathPrinceps @gogreen18
If your mentor rejects you late in the game, you're doomed. His/her colleagues will not intervene to save you, nor will the university.
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Replying to @MathPrinceps @gogreen18
And this sort of thing does happen. A master-apprentice relationship is not unlike a romantic relationship, and gruesome breakups do occur.
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Replying to @MathPrinceps @gogreen18
Nor is it only gruesome breakups you should fear. Other sorts of dysfunctional relationships may develop, with ultimately disastrous results
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Replying to @MathPrinceps @gogreen18
This is mainly why grad school is hard. Maintaining a healthy long-term relationship with one's mentor poses profound challenges.
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Replying to @MathPrinceps @gogreen18
You're probably better equipped than most to meet those challenges, but I implore you: don't get cocky. Bad shit happens to good people.
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Replying to @MathPrinceps @gogreen18
All the same, though, it is worth repeating, and stressing, that your fellow grad students may well become your dearest friends for life.
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Replying to @MathPrinceps @gogreen18
It's only natural. Traumatic experiences bind people together, and your fellow grad students are likely to resemble you in essential ways.
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Replying to @MathPrinceps @gogreen18
Also, profound mastery may be your reward, if all goes well. So there are real and compelling inducements, too. Not just alarming dangers.
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Good luck with it, Ms Green. Perhaps you'll sail right through; it does happen. I can think of no one more deserving of an easy time of it.
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