Bye bye, Dr. B

It’s now official.  The professor I’ve been hoping would be my new advisor — who I will call Dr. B — has now bowed out, leaving me right back where I started.  I got tired of him dragging his feet on this matter, given that I need an advisor to take care of some loose threads in my progress towards my degree, not to mention my eventual need for a dissertation committee, chaired by an advisor, to pass my dissertation proposal.  So I wrote a letter responding to numerous points he had raised in our earlier conversations and then asking him to commit to be on one side of the fence or the other.  He came back with a short refusal.

On the face of it, it’s fine that he refused.  I wouldn’t want to work with someone who thinks the fit is not good.  At the same time, I wasted half my summer waiting on this guy to quit dancing and decide, time that might have been put to good use, only instead to find myself right back where I started.

I’ve debated including the letter I sent to him in this post.  I’m still not completely sure about including it, which I interpret to mean I should not include it here.  However, if you are someone with hiring authority and considering hiring me for a position, I might share that privately with you.  Reach out if you are interested.

All in all, I feel disappointed.  The person I once admired as being full of wisdom has been replaced with a myoptic miser who lacks vision.  That said, I remain undaunted.  This situation gets the same response I gave to my ex-advisor.  If this guy doesn’t want to help me, then I will just find someone else who will.  And that’s my attitude going forward.

---