Dearly, for the students.

Every year, in May and June, I am bombarded with questionnaires, questions and requests to express my professional opinion on topics that are (and will be) found in students’ dissertations. Of course, I am honoured, just as I am honoured when I am invited to give a course or seminar in college, to both undergraduate and master’s students.

So far, however, I have only responded to two such requests, to a Romanian student studying in London and one in Cluj. Why did I answer to the one in London?

– first of all, he summarised his work, which was also to the point, making me understand what the context is about;
– he sent me the content and the summary of the paper;
– he explained to me how and where exactly he will use my answers, stating that he will use them only as a quote and that starting from them, he will develop further his paper;
– he asked a reasonable number of questions, so as not to take too much out of my personal time;
– he asked the questions very precisely and clearly, asking for appropriate answers;
– he sent me the questions in January, with a request to answer by March.

And, why did I answer to the one from Cluj:

– mainly, the coordinates of the “collaboration” required by her, coincided with those above;
– in addition, she wanted to have a discussion with me for a maximum of 30 minutes based on my answers, in order to clarify or develop certain issues.

And yet, why did I only answer to these two students? Because their attitude and approach show that they are serious and interested.