an old memory: endings and beginnings.

by the time it turned august, 6 years ago, i was ready to move and start graduate school in mathematics. it was in my future. i was sure of it!

my bags and boxes were packed, fit neatly into the trunk and most of the backseat of a 4-door sedan. most of those were books, and of these, most of them i'd never read again; i didn't know how to plan very well, back then.

there was one last thing, before driving away: one last meeting with one of my profs, one last chat about ideas and research.

---

it had been an eventful summer for me, full of new travels. those were my first conferences; he had suggested them. i learned a lot. among other lessons, i discovered that i truly knew nothing.

sometimes i hated being right. (i had my suspicions.)

i hadn't seen that prof since may, but upon walking into his office and greeting him, that gap of time seemed utterly imagined. he asked me about finland and about utah, whom i had met there, what i thought about the kinds of analysis that i've seen.

even in that last hour, i still learned a few last intuitions. i confessed that i understood very little and asked him a handful of the things that i didn't know.

so we talked mathematics for a while.

after a while, he cautioned me: "where you're going, they're very geometric, very abstract. make sure you always know the beginnings of the theory, the motivations. always ask!"

i nodded.

a moment passed, and then he asked, "they're not going to make you take algebraιc geometry there, are they? it's not one of the required first-year courses?"

i assured him no, but i learned later that it wasn't a silly question. that would be true for half the students i'd meet in grad school, but not for me.

i had an agenda, you see.
i was determined to become an analyst.

---

before my ph.d.,
before i had an advisor,
i had a mentor.

there was never any formal agreement, just some unspoken understanding. he always listened, he offered before i could ask; he still does. without him, i doubt i'd have become a mathematician.

so, for those profs, postdocs, or instructors who interact often with undergrads: your mentoring matters.

it's frustrating, i imagine. undergrads, american or otherwise, aren't especially known for their professionalism.

for a few of us, though, it's made all the difference.