It’s late and I’m going to bed, so this will be short.
This weekend was packed for me with fantastic, joyous events that don’t happen every year. An old friend got married, and the Harvard Glee Club and its two sister choruses held a huge reunion to mark the retirement of their longtime conductor. (The latter was joyous in reunion and in remembrance of his career—not in the fact that he’s leaving!) At each event I caught up with a number of people I hadn’t seen in several years, and at the wedding celebrations I also met a large number of young mathematicians, colleagues of the bride and groom.
Two observations. First, at the Glee Club reunion I saw a cross-section of Harvard graduates between one and five years out, and heard what they’re all up to. One thing I heard from very few of them was that they have today a job directly on the career path they want to follow for life. Maybe half are in graduate school of one sort or another, some after working a job, some not. Many of the rest talk about entering a program next fall, or applying next year. One guy quit his job last week, another is going to quit next month—either to write plays, or work in politics, he’s not yet sure which—and another has realized he hates his job and the whole career path it lies in and is trying to figure out his next move so he can quit too. While in school, particularly senior year, it often seemed like everyone had their whole future paths exactly figured out. It’s comforting in a way to know that so many of them were wrong.
Second, everybody still loves Ksplice. I must have told at least thirty people, either that I’d just met or just caught up with after years, that we make those ‘reboot’ popups obsolete. Most everyone was suitably glad to learn of the idea; one reached out and shook my hand a second time. And then I think I broke new ground for Ksplice when one of them was so happy for the death of reboots that he gave me a hug.
