I am sitting here writing this acknowledgment and a vision pops in my head. It is of those award ceremonies where actors and actresses receive an award for doing a fine job of being the Falcon or the Snowman or whatever the *bleep* they were in whatever the *bleep* movie they were in. They are babbling and babbling, orchestra comes in trying to kick them off of the podium, and they are still babbling. Of course, you’re thinking, “would you please shut up?” I am suddenly horrified that there may be a parallel between that process and me writing this acknowledgment. It will just go on and on and the thesis somehow ends up being twice as long as it was when I started writing the acknowledgment.
Showing gratitude is a tricky business. You want to make sure that you don’t leave anybody out that deserve rightful credit, but life is so grey. Six and a half years is a long time, and different parts of your life are all entangled in a way and you’re sitting there trying to sort out who has guided/helped you how in what. It’s not easy. You start with a short list, then the list grows. It’s slow at the beginning, but there is a critical point. Once you reach that point, you start thinking ‘well, now I can’t leave him out or her out’ and an avalanche begins. Then the acknowledgment turns into your autobiography. No one’s interested in that and I really should avoid it.
So here’s how it goes. “Thank you, Bill. You have been a wonderful advisor.” Stops right there.
OK, so that’s probably too short. Let’s try it again. First, I’d like to thank my advisor Bill Halperin for his support and guidance, both professionally and personally. He has exceeded all expectations I had for my graduate school advisor and I really couldn’t have asked more from him. I somehow feel that I have underachieved under his superb guidance. That probably is my guilty conscience talking though, as the fate of a graduate student is to be molded into a guilt driven human being. Now that I’m graduating, I should be over it. So, a little pat on my back as well, ‘good job, Choi.’
As for guiding me, Kazushi Yawata has done an excellent job as well. He, along with Guillaume Gervais and John Halpine, helped me fit in the lab right away and they have all guided me through the right steps to become a low temperature physicist. I would also like to acknowledge the other members of my defense committee Jim Sauls and John Ketterson, whose body of knowledge and physical insights have always been tremendously inspiring. I should also thank Hui Cao who has been on my candidacy proposal committee.
Of course, I have to mention my group members. John Davis with his ambition and relentless pursuit of physics has been motivating and refreshing. His grumpiness at times (At times? There’s an understatement.) made it difficult to work with, but we have worked together well for six years and we could have done it for many more years to come if it weren’t for South Korean government and his wife Juli.
Who’s next? Oh, right, Johannes Pollanen, he may look young and innocent but he is old and perverted. Wait, that’s not what I meant to say. His willingness to step in whenever I needed his help has made my life so much easier. I remember him as a hard worker earlier on in his graduate career and I do fear that I may have contaminated his work ethics. Well, now that I’m leaving, I’m sure he’ll get it back and just cruise on from here on. At least he won’t be distracted listening to me talk about running all day anymore. Speaking of running, I do have to thank him for introducing me to the sport also.
Relatively new graduate students Ben and Bill have been the perfect addition to the lab with their drinking habits and bad attitudes that came along with their passion for physics. I can leave in peace knowing that the future of the lab is in good hands. Too bad Ben is leaving soon, but good thing we have the one and only Truly Gannon going. A series of undergraduate students, Tom Lippman, Sam Blinstein, Kent Shirer, and Ben Rolfs have shown enthusiasm towards physics and demanding job of working with us in the past and present. They have been a great help.
I’d like to thank gurus or gurus-to-be of NMR, Eric Sigmund, Bo Chen, Sutirtha Mukhopadhyay, Andy Mounce and Sangwon Oh also. Their presence down the hall sometimes has made my life a little more difficult, having to share Bill’s time with them every now and then, but they certainly made my graduate career richer and more exciting for the most part. (Technically, nobody actually took Bill’s time away from me more than John, so if we are to play the game of who the *bleep* is to blame, they shouldn’t be on top of the list. But that’s what happens in life if you live down the hall instead of in the same room with you. You’re either with us or against us. Huh?)
The theoretical counterpart of the Northwestern Ultra Low Temperature Laboratory led by Jim Sauls, also known as (only to a very select few though) the Pencil Pushers, is also worthy of my appreciation, especially Priya Sharma, Anton Vorontsov, and Erhai Zhao. Collaboration with Norbert Mulders has been a great success, and I thank him for that as well. His sample served me well and certainly led me to graduation. Also during his stay at Northwestern, his stoic attitude certainly added an extra flavor to the lab.
Now back to aforementioned Juli, John’s wife. Notice how I left her last name out? I’m embarrassed to say this, as embarrassed as a guy who fell on his back trying to high-kick, but I don’t know her last name. I know it once was Gibbs, but now it’s GibbsDavis? Maybe there is a hyphen somewhere, Gibbs-Davis? Gibbsda-Vis? Maybe it’s Zeidelmeidel-Meyer. I don’t mean to be rude but I’m not even sure that she knows. Anyway, she must be a prophetess or something. She’s been calling me the doctor long before I knew I could go through with all this. Her supportive attitude definitely helped me not lose the sight of what I am doing here.
I shouldn’t forget my former roommates. Jean-Francois Godbout, Sotorios Tsaftaris and Rhett Sutphin. JF and Sotos liked to party and mingle or mangle, whatever it is people do at a party. Probably not mangle, mangle sounds bad, it sounds bad like you’re-squeezing-someone’s-brain-out-of-the-skull bad. Anyway, they have added a new dimension to my graduate career. Rhett, on the other hand, is definitely more reserved. He and I, both being not so talkative, could sit in the same room and not say a word for hours. Well, maybe not quite hours, but for a long time. I nonetheless have always enjoyed his company and his knowledgeability has always been intellectually stimulating. Conversation is overrated anyways.
I thank Arne Staal for always having believed in me. Although it was a misguided belief that one day I will take a Wall Street job with him. I’m sorry that things haven’t worked out the way he wanted, but I know he will respect my decision to pursue physics. Well, I hope he’d be still willing to set me up in Wall Street if I rack up a serious amount of debt for whatever reason in the future. Tendai Gadzikwa has introduced me and the rest of the ULT group to various chemistry social events that made our lives more eventful. Even with her I-don’t-care personality, she’s been supportive when her support was needed.
I must not forget, must not forget Bob and John Pottinger. They literally made my survival possible for six years with their delicious sandwiches, soups, and cookies. I really wish that their business just takes off from now on and there will be a South Korea branch of Al’s Deli.
Finally, my family. My dad may have been a tad bit disappointed with what I have achieved so far in life, as he was clearly misguided by the cockiness of my past, but I’m sure he would have been proud as he always had been. Soonyoung is a little dry as most of the Chois in my family, and she won’t be too excited or at least won’t show it. But I know my mom is happy if not proud that I am finally coming back home if not that I’ve become a doctor. Whatever the cause is, it is a wonderful moment for myself as well, as it should be for any son that can make his mom happy. Well, I may have taken the pleasure of teasing me away from her, as she has always enjoyed reminding me of how incompetent I must be to have taken so long to graduate. I’m sure she’ll find something else to tease me with, probably something along the line of what an unattractive human being I must be to still be single, so I’m not too worried. In any case, their faith and devotion have been the keystone of my success, not just as a graduate student, but through every step leading to that as well.
I am worried that I may have left someone out that truly deserves my acknowledgment. It goes without saying that if I have forgotten someone, rightfully so. I mean, I’d like to thank everyone who has shown me support and faith even if I haven’t mentioned them here. Like I said, six and a half years is a long time and my memory fades with time. It shouldn’t be an excuse, but I hope they are as generous as they have been supportive and can forgive me for not acknowledging them properly.
So I did end up babbling here. Five page long acknowledgment? That’s got to be some kind of a record. Lack of discipline certainly shows sometimes. Well, it’s a good thing no one is actually going to read this thesis and find out what kind of an incoherent babbler I am.
