Five Minutes

I've discovered today that the voice recorder on my phone goes up to 5 minutes of recording before shutting off.

Don't worry--I figured it out about 6 minutes into the interview.

I was early, she was late. I was waiting outside her office for a few minutes before I saw her running up the stairs, half a sandwich in her mouth and a brown bag in her hand. "I have to be at a test at 2," she said after we briefly greeted each other. "Just so you know." It was 1:32.

Let me just tell you: I had prepared for this. I had questions about her career, her research, her involvement in the department, the whole kit and caboodle. But I was nervous about going into it by myself, so I spoke quietly and asked her to talk about her recent public engagement grants.

Blunt and to-the-point, she told me the grants really didn't have much to do with the department, and she didn't even have much to do with one of them (her name was just on it as the PI for the grant), but she spent almost 15 minutes straight explaining exactly what the programs were, as well as a partial history.

Every five minutes, I would reset my recorder.

I fumbled to phrase a question about her research, throwing out terms I had read on her website: balance, pregnant women, firefighters. I think she could tell I had no real aim. She first stated she had already given the department information about her study on firefighters and the grant that came with it, but didn't give me a chance to meekly pipe up that I had only been here a few months. Instead, she chose to explain the details of the study, her tone fast-paced and purposeful.

Me: "Do you have any other ongoing projects?" (This is not a very intelligently-worded question to ask a professor. The vast majority of them always have several.)
Her: -laughs- "Of course we do!"

I'm sure in her head she was thinking, "Where on earth did they find this girl....?" But she continued, telling me about her research into pneumatic and fluid-powered orthoses, and the progression from metal to plastic to--

A knock on the door. A professor with a thick accent: "Liz! We have test!"

"Oh, crap. [to me] Sorry, I've got to go."
"That's all right. I'll probably send you a follow-up email--"
She was already grabbing the rest of her lunch, with a few folders and a bag. "Mmhm, that's fine. Nice talking with you!"
"Yes, thank you very much."
And she was gone.

So here are my thoughts. My boss (Bill) was thinking of two articles: one on the public engagement grants, and one on her. I definitely did not get enough information for an article on her, but probably enough for one on the grants. So I'll tell him that, and also tell him that she was under the impression we had enough information on her research, and offer the one article. If he wants a second one, there will have to be a second interview. Hopefully a more successful one than the first.

I can see why there exists the "absent-minded professor" stereotype. They have so much going on around them, it would make anyone dizzy.

In other words, it didn't go as badly as I feared. But I still have a ways to go.

And somehow, I feel as if I'll be ending posts with those words quite a lot.