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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Research is Hell

Graduate Student
28 mm




This guy really has seen it all: unexplainable results, all-night experimental marathons ruined by a dropped test tube rack, instruments going off-calibration as soon as a precious sample is loaded, and his supervisor skipping his committee meeting to play squash. His body runs on caffeine and anxiety and his bank account is laughable. He hasn't had time to read a novel for years, but he took a pile of journal articles into the toilet this morning. All that keeps him going is the faint glimmer of graduation, at the end of a very long tunnel.

This miniature is dedicated to all the graduate students I know, and to Jorge Cham.