For years now I’ve been trying to understand the way my Supervisor works when it comes to my studies and my research. This might seem weird to the non-research student but trust me when I say that the relationship a research student has with a Supervisor is unique – in a fatherly or favourite uncle kind of way. They are after all there to guide you, help you, teach you, hone your skills, be your mentor. If they are good you’ll improve. If they are excellent you ‘ll be the best researcher you can be. If they are special they exhibit a sense of pride when you do well.
I’ve known my Supervisor since 2006, he supervised my MSc thesis and this year he accepted me as a PhD student. We frequently revisit old work nowadays. I revise essays, look into old literature, redevelop concepts, discuss theory again. Every single time this happens he shocks me no end by telling me that something which I thought was really good is in reality crap. Perhaps he uses more gentle words but all I hear is ‘crap‘. Concepts I have known and worked with are now redundant, surveys I’ve done unacceptable, understanding of theories insufficient.
He makes me write things again and again. I’ve written essays, re-drafted essays, deleted and re-written, it’s essays, essays, essays non stop, small pieces of work here and there, reading and then writing and then writing some more, with tight deadlines (I work, don’t forget that, so any deadline always seems tight to me).
Just after my exams he e-mailed me to arrange a meeting, to set the essay schedule for the summer. I got soooooo exasperated. CRAP, I though, more little essays and revisiting and revising and redrafting. CRAP! WHEN DOES THE REAL RESEARCH HAPPEN?
And then we met. And we set the schedule and then I re-read my research proposal (the 100th redraft of course) and it hit me. EVERYTHING he makes me do is relevant. Every essay I’ve written can be developed as a chapter of the PhD.
Good Lord, my Supervisor is taking me through the old Wax On Wax Off!
I fucking grew up with Karate Kid, I should have spotted that one.
————————————
By the way I told him today that he is the Wax On Wax Off guy and he couldn’t stop laughing. I just hope it doesn’t bring on any ideas about and essay regarding remediation with new mashups of old films as an example.
