the award

29 Jan 2010

Nora came to my room this afternoon to offer me a slice of cake she bought to celebrate the award she just received from her department. Her supervisor had told her she would receive this award if she studied hard enough to get outstanding marks, which she did. She was quite happy to succeed and I think it is always great to find a way to officially celebrate the achievements. When we do this we sort of have a powerful file in our mind, one of being happy and knowing that the work pays off. I was very happy for her. I know how hard it is to be away from home and still have to manage hard work from school and endless other challenges we encounter here quite often.

Nora is my flatmate. She is a nice, hardworking student from mainland China. She is studying engineering. What she always tells me she’s studying sounds very difficult for me to even think about what this is.

Her supervisor also invited her, along with other two classmates, to travel together to attend a conference in Dundee, Scotland. She was so excited about the trip. I told her that if her supervisor has offered her such great opportunities the only reason is that he sees in her the good student the good professors hope to find in their classrooms. During this trip to Scotland she mentioned to him she is considering applying for the PhD programme here at the University of Southampton. He said that if she applies for the PhD he will do everything he can to find her a scholarship, even though he cannot promise her she’ll get one. That was great and she came back from trip very enthusiast about the conference, the trip, and about applying for the PhD programme.