A shared office. But this shared office, apart from being my first official “office” at any institution, has special meaning. After Prof. Bartchy’s office, this office is the second room that I visited on UCLA’s campus. As a prospective Ph.D. student, I awkwardly stumbled on campus to meet one of Bartchy’s grad students in person, a person with whom I had interacted online a bit. I peeked my head in the door to find Kevin Scull sitting at his desk–probably doing some grading.
I remember being a little nervous to meet Kevin, if only because I thought he might have Bartchy’s ear. Being nervous to meet a warm and jocular guy like Kevin seems humorous as I think about it now. I came and visited with him a few more times after that, meeting in that shared office, conversing with some other TAs.
It did feel a little special to walk into that office this morning, not nervous this time, but rather empowered to think that I’ve gotten that far. When I claimed my desk, I noticed that Kevin still had some of his items posted to the board above the desk next to mine (including an envelope that says “Kevin Scull Lives Here”). A nice little reminder of the distance from then to now.
The journey continues . . .
(By the way, Kevin, I have those things you left behind from two years ago 
)
