Wynne, E. et al
Star grad student Blake Neil is known by colleagues as the hardest working PhD student in his institute, as he brings it up in every conversation, and even more impressive? Despite claims that he does “nothing but lab work for 18 hours a day,” Neil has also managed to watch every single TV show in existence.
Neil’s co-workers are astounded by how much he works and simultaneously manages to be up to date with new shows, within hours of their release. Postdoc Dr. Ai Nguyen said “He says he was in the lab all last night, but he’s also caught up to all 28 episodes of that show about shark swimsuit models, and it only came out yesterday.”
When asked about how he has time for both science and TV, Dr. Ngyuen replied, “He must just be really talented, nothing else would explain it!”
“He is the best student I’ve ever had,” said Neil’s supervisor Professor Dr. Nika Imanov, as her eyes welled up with tears. “The strange thing is, I wouldn’t even know how diligent he was if he didn’t constantly tell me about how hard he works,” she added.
When asked about his productivity, Dr. Imanov paused. “Even though he doesn’t seem to have as much data as other students, I’m confident he is the best, simply because he is always here,” said Dr. Imanov. “He even sends me email updates throughout the night, so I know he is working at all hours.”
An unfortunate side effect of Neil’s brilliance is that it can intimidate his fellow trainees. “I’m no match for Blake, he is always imaging in that dark microscope room” said graduate student Ali Khalil, who also says Neil has never provided an image from that microscope.
“He must be multitasking and analysing data on his laptop, his screen time report popped up the other day and it said ‘up 2% for an average of 20 hours a day.’ I just can’t compete with that dedication,” said Khalil.
Although Neil is yet to produce any publishable data, all of the TV shows on his streaming accounts exist only under the heading “Watch Again” which many people agree is a huge accomplishment. We asked Neil if he had any tips for up-and-coming graduate students “I’m far too busy to comment. I have to go and watch, I mean image, these samples” he replied.
