Do you know people who blow you away because they’re so good at – and so accomplished in – many very different areas?
An acquaintance showed me a beautiful sweater she knit – a complex Nordic pattern. She’s an amazing knitter. She’s also a voracious reader and a major reviewer of literary fiction on Amazon, she teaches yoga, she’s the mother of a special-needs child, and on top of that is a tenured, much-published scientist at NIH with something like a dozen scientists working under her. How on earth does she do it all?
Another example: a friend is a professor of computer science at an elite university. Lots of publications and teaching awards. He also writes poetry – in French! – and makes beautiful violins as a hobby… of course that’s only when he’s not traveling the world to watch opera performances. He’s seen a lot of opera. He’s sold a few beautiful violins (at fundraisers for various charities.) He’s an involved father of two sons and a wonderful husband who does a lot of the cooking.
It boggles my little mind. It makes me feel inferior. Do these people not sleep?
I had a friend who got a PhD at Caltech while he was winning bluegrass banjo playing contests. He’s a prof at Stanford and has many awards and is a member of the American Academy of Science. He’s also a fabulous cook - his chocolate cheesecake was to die for.
“… and on top of that is a tenured, much-published scientist at NIH with something like a dozen scientists working under her. How on earth does she do it all?”
You partly answered your own question - she has a dozen scientists working under her. A dozen busy scientists can generate a lot of data and publications in a year, and she will be a senior co-author on all of them.
I was typing what Scipio just said. Most tenured research profs have at least one postdoc or PhD research scientist who typically manages undergraduate and graduate students in the lab.
My favorite lung doctor has a black belt in karate, hikes, skis, golfs and runs two research labs, teaches and is head of medicine and a world renown center. He also sees patients and provides them with exceptional care.
Ha, just today I saw a Facebook video of a friend singing during a concert. She has a beautiful voice, is a part of an amateur theater group, brought up two great kids, is a college professor, has a rich social life and looks great to boot. I’m starting to hate her
My professor in grad school was incredibly academically accomplished. He was only 5 years older than me, because he was a younger professor than most and I was an older grad student than most. We grad students knew he was bright, but we didn’t find out just how accomplished he was until his dad came out for a visit and told us.
He was double major in college - mathematics and chemistry. He graduated at the top of his class with near straight A grades. He decided to go to medical school and was accepted at every medical school to which he applied including all the biggies. He picked Stanford because that way he could stay close to his girlfriend (and later wife) who was attending vet school at UC Davis. He was at the head of his class all the way through medical school, but that apparently wasn’t enough to keep him busy. So after a year or so he separately applied to grad school at Stanford and thus in his spare time also earned a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.
He couldn’t cook, knit, or write poetry so far as I know, and he was a klutz in the laboratory, but he was a polymath when it came STEM academics.
There is a local family doctor who also hosts a radio show about various health issues and has guest speakers. She’s been doing this weekly show for over a decade as a volunteer. She’s also a very skilled musician and I believe she also sings. She is also a medical director. I’m not quite sure what else she does.
My current lung specialist plays in a band, is medical director of a nursing home and is running a very busy pulmonary practice, including doing cutting edge treatments. He’s retired military. He is divorced though, so I’m guessing his personal life was a sacrificed due to all the competing demands.
@katliamom I don’t hate him, but maybe dh does! They co-wrote some papers in grad school. If dh had made other choices things might have been different… One thing that is clear to me that Scipio is correct, that the underlings do a lot of the research - and the choice my guy made mean that he didn’t have the caliber of student that this guy did. That said, I think both of us would agree that this guy was one of the most brilliant people we know. We have a very good friend who plays in a band, writes for science humor magazines and is a tenured prof. (And is happily married as far as we can tell, though they are also happy to spend plenty of time apart - at separate conference or overseas collaborations.) But he’s no genius. Happy guy though and fun to be around.
@mathmom, Interesting about the science profs having underlings do a lot of the research – I didn’t think of that, but it makes sense. (DH was a prof in the humanities. There were no underlings in his field unless you count the profs themselves, lol.) And of course I don’t hate anybody – life’s too short and it’s not like hating would make ME smarter – but I am amazed at how some people can focus and succeed in so many disparate things, every single one of which seems labor intensive. It’s as if one of their talents was to find more hours in a day.
This is going to sound bragging. I can see my 18 year old son growing up to be one. I always tell him he needs Hermione’s time turner. Distracted all the time and not particularly smart or talented, but always doing something, he is studying bio and comp sci at Stanford while trying to be a professional dancer. He grew up playing soccer and trombone, runs a nonprofit org to support young artists and entertains kids with magic tricks. Also an empathetic and loyal friend. He went on a dance training and audition overseas during winter break and I tagged along (only way to spend time with him). He had downloaded lectures from school and studied on the plane and after dance classes. Finding more hours in a day is definitely a talent
A friend from college is definitely the most accomplished person I know. He was a very good mathematician (top few dozen in the country in his age group) but decided to do a second degree in philosophy for fun, and then in his spare time did some published research in chemistry, set up a graphical design consulting firm (including developing a new font and redesigning the university newspaper), wrote articles for a major international weekly magazine, and wrote a very popular textbook on financial derivatives, all in his early 20s. Then went on to make serious money at a famous investment bank.
OP, I don’t know anyone with that variety of accomplishments! That’s amazing, all his accomplishments are so unrelated!
The person who makes me feel like an complete unmovitated slug and the classic underachiever is a friend I reconnected with after 28 years.
We met in our 20’s, we were in the same profession just starting out. Never heard from each other again, nor kept in touch in any way.
Well, seems like as I was slogging along like the normal person, normal pay, etc. but she had since become the president of her division (a chunk of the country)…quite the big Whig for this huge national company.
She also was named business woman of the year in her previous large urban city. Although she didn’t find this certain charity I won’t name (for her anonymity), but she started the major national fundraiser That is huge to this day. She moved and within a year was named a finalist in her new city’s business women of the year, and chairs the city’s ballet fundraiser as is on its board of directors, and god knows what else she’s done. She beautiful, mother of children, generous and kind and as fun to be around as she was when we were “kids”.
