›
In
1985 I was accepted to the University of Delaware School of Life and
Health Sciences for graduate study in microbiology. It was a rewarding four years, but
unfortunately, I never earned my Masters of Science. Why not, I hear you ask?
Well, it’s like this. My thesis
project was “Characterization of anaerobic chemotaxis in Pseudomonas
aeruginosa.” I’d created a device
to quantify (measure numerically) the ability for this bacterium to respond to
chemical stimuli in an oxygen free environment (since this bug can cause some
nasty infections, it seemed like a good idea to me). The problem was that it showed no response anaerobically!
Well,
if they did show a response, I’d be able to measure it! So, disgusted and broke, I cut my losses and
sought employment in Philadelphia.
The lesson from the University of DE:
Sometimes you just have to chuck it all and start over. Sometimes quitting makes you a failure. Other times, not quitting makes you one.