What You Find While Cleaning Out the Office of a World-Class Researcher
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Once in a while, you have a rare kind of sobering moment that makes you pause and consider your career and trajectory. I had one today as I helped remove everything from the office of a recently retired professor.
As background, this professor had been in our department for over 30 years. In his prime, he was one of the top researchers in the field and had published dozens of articles in our premier journals (most professors will never publish once in these journals). He did some groundbreaking cross-disciplinary research. By most accounts, he had an impressive career as an academic. And at the end, he left a roomful of artifacts from that career for others to dispose of.
Bookcases full of books. More stacks of books. Drawers and cabinets full of papers. Stacks on top of cabinets, papers on top of books. Year upon year of conference proceedings. A large stack containing dozens of copies of that award-winning paper he co-authored over 20 years ago. Some plaques and research awards. All placed methodically into a big, blue, sterile recycling container.
At first, it’s fun looking around, hoping to spot some new book worth adding to your own collection. And then you realize there’s nothing here published after 2000. And you realize just how many authors like to include the word “new” in their book titles. Now those books look ancient under a heavy layer of office dust.
And you see the old desk and the old CRT monitor and the old stapler and the old brown chairs and they all look like they must have been hot stuff for an academic back in 1989. But today, you feel like you’re in a time capsule.
And you find piles of continuous-feed paper (the kind with holes running along both sides). And you find little troves of floppy disks, hidden in odd corners, and an Iomega Zip drive, still in the box.
And you keep looking and you find a brown office fridge that has been frozen shut for ages.
And you find an unopened flagon of malt liquor. And a collection of beer mugs. And an ashtray with a pile of ashes. And you recall stories about a bygone period when the professor was free to smoke in his office.
And you find some old family photos wedged under one of the stacks of papers. And you see pictures of a little girl — the daughter you know died tragically young. And you find an empty bottle of anti-depressants.
And you realize this is what your life looks like when you keep coming to work long after the flame goes out. Unsettling.
June 5, 2015 @ 10:01 pm
Sad day.
Eye opening article.
As you did Scott, I served a mission for my church. I know you went to Italy. For me, I was in Argentina for two years. I’ll never forget watching others and how their time as missionaries ended. Some missionaries seemed to work just as hard on the last week of their mission as they did on their first. Others chose to mentally check out and go home months before they actually got on the plane. They were done. They were ready to move on before their time was up.
I hope I can stay sharp and keep adding the same level of value throughout each stage of my career.
June 9, 2015 @ 4:52 am
I know what you’re talking about, Stu. What’s interesting to me though is that sometimes it’s very unpredictable who finishes that way.
June 8, 2015 @ 10:28 pm
It was a snapshot of the professors private and working life. Did you need to put this online or could you not find a good reason to respect the professors privacy at retirement. When you leave your job should your co-worker/cleaner write about your medications, your personal tragedies, your triumphs and your difficulties dealing with the years beyond your peak?
June 9, 2015 @ 4:58 am
This is not a bitter jab at the deceased or a rival. I have a tremendous amount of respect for this man as well as a lot of sympathy for what he’s been through. But I hear what you’re saying. It was just a very powerful experience that I saw through one angle and wanted to capture my personal takeaways (even if they were based on erroneous premises) in a way that stayed with me.
June 8, 2015 @ 11:04 pm
cheer me up why dont you.
June 9, 2015 @ 4:59 am
“…and then I found $20 and all was well again.”
June 8, 2015 @ 11:33 pm
This is why maintaining good mental hygiene is critical. After your career has peaked, just because you can’t be on top doesn’t mean you can’t be helpful. It might mean your roles shift, but having a sense of purpose is more important than trying to hold on to something temporary.
June 9, 2015 @ 5:00 am
Great thoughts. I can’t say for certain how he was approaching life and whether it was deliberate, but I agree that purpose is something that is attainable, regardless of career stage.
June 9, 2015 @ 7:56 am
Thank you for the article.