So this is perhaps the part that needs unpacking. Does he worry about intensity too? Or is he craving it?
Like, would he want to be in the same room with these kids? Or would he be intimidated?
Rest assured, it doesn’t take a Putnam fellow to graduate from MIT. But it pretty much takes being at MIT to sit in a class with a Putnam fellow.
So if this is his catnip - then that’s where it’s at.