09 April 2011

Venturing into the world of grown-ups

Drivers! Sources! Processes! Dimensions! Units! My head is spinning. Where does all that managers’ lingo come from, one might ask. Well!

I have a sister who lives in the world of grown-ups, and she has a proper job. More proper than her education had actually prepared her for. So she decided to get another grade; this time precisely tuned to her work. And one does not get a grade without writing a thesis.

We all know writing a thesis can be demanding. I know that! But I don’t know how demanding it is if you have to combine it with a proper job, a marriage, and raising about 500 kids (well, a more accurate estimate is 3, but that’s not even that much less). And to make things worse; my sister had been told by her supervisor she had accidentally composed it in Dunglish instead of English. (UK readers may wonder why she did not simply use Dutch, as Brits tend to erroneously think one can use one’s native tongue for practically everything; well, we’re talking the Netherlands here. If you want to be taken seriously you do whatever you do in English!) And that’s where I came in.

I got an e-mail from my normally quite cool, calm and collected sister, asking if I would be so kind as to use my language skills, honed by spending 4 years abroad, to polish her thesis, and I agreed to do so.

My view on a sunny Saturday afternoon

I had underestimated how much work that is! Many an hour was spent in my office, while the sun was beckoning and my friends were having beers on a terrace. But that’s life. I spend quite some ridiculous evening and weekend hours in my cold office for myself, so I should not moan if I for once do that for somebody else. And by the tone of the e-mails I think I can tell this will be in the aid of a proper damsel in distress. But the deadline is nigh! I hope she will submit a thesis she’s proud of.

I now know enough about IT finance to last me the rest of my life. I hope. And having been granted a glance into the world of adults I am more motivated than ever to spend all the necessary cold hours in my office for a career in science; I don’t want to have to venture into the real world!

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