It’s with a heavy heart that I have my weekly meetings with two of the most extraordinary graduate students, Andy & Emily, who are finishing up this semester. These two are rock stars, and while I’m excited to see where they land and all the amazing things they will do, I am going to miss them something fierce. I can remember my advisor, Dr. Giacomo Bernardi the Great, saying that the advisor/advisee relationships was a classic example of “parent/offspring conflict, ” – the advisee is ready to go, and we hang on wanting more. I get that. Sort of the way I get now what it’s like to raise a teenager and couldn’t for the life of me figure out why my mom used to complain or mumble under her breath, “for the love of all things these teenagers are going to be the end of me!” And for the record, my teenager (first of three) is way more mellow than I was. Thanks mom! Sorry mom! But, I digress. This is different, I never had teenager years with these two, it’s been nothing but delightful. They are thoughtful, well-rounded individuals, that show a level of maturity I only hope to achieve. Really, these two humans have helped me grow, kept me on my toes, shaped me into an advisor, and while I still have a long way to go, I’m so much better at this gig because of them. I can only hope they know how much I value them, how much I appreciate them, and in that sort of hand wringing way, hope they stay in touch. Really, please stay in touch…Okay, back to writing, but more soon about my experience with the first cohort of GG Scholars, stay tuned…