• Closed • [Scalvoris Campus:] First trials and tribulations

[Pegasus]

1st Ashan

The first trial of a new job might always be a daunting prospect and, in fairness, it would be unlikely that anyone faced that morning without a certain sense of apprehension. He had been given no more information than to turn up and that Felicia Du'Wintre would be expecting him. So, as the ninth bell of the morning struck on the first of Ashan in the 717th Arc, Padraig was in the reception area at the university.

Felicia smiled at him as he walked in. Her smile seemed genuine enough and she motioned him over. "Welcome, Professor Augustin. I'm going to be giving you a brief induction and then, I've arranged for you to have a tour, although we'll keep it to just the staff areas you won't be aware of. After that, you have a morning arranged with your mentor and a few others." If nothing else, it seemed the place was organised. Felicia would allow nothing else.

"I'm afraid, firstly, it's forms. We have rules, protocols and processes. Currently, when we have a new member of staff, I give them this bunch of papers." It wasn't huge, not to someone who was studying at the level he was, but there were a few there. "Each one has a policy or process on it. Here is a list of them all, I'd like you to read them, check you understand them and then sign on the list to say that you've done that and agree to abide by them." That would be his first half break of work, if he read each one properly. Ten bits if he skimmed and two if he just signed.

Whichever he did, Felicia was there to answer any questions he had or to discuss with him anything which he felt warranted such. Then, it was at exactly half a break past nine that a young man walked up to the desk. He was wearing a tweed suit with a white shirt. He had deep brown hair and he was remarkably well put together. Ignoring Padraig completely, the handsome young man walked up and from behind his back handed Felicia a small, but very elgant bouquet of flowers. "My lady du'Wintre. They pale, of course, in comparison to you. I am here, as you requested."

It could, and should be sleazy or, at best, a cheesy line. It somehow, though, was something which he pulled off expertly and Padraig got to see the rare sight of Felicia Du'Wintre blushing like a girl of fifteen. "You are a dreadful flirt. They're beautiful. Professor Augustin, this is.."

"Augustin?" The young man turned his head and looked at Padraig, then. "Well, you're the new young thing coming in and pushing the Dean's vision forward, eh? I've heard a lot about you. From a number of places." The last he added with a smile which appeared completely sincere.

"My name's Argus. Professor Hamilton-Smith, I teach Medicine here." Of course, Padraig knew those things. "I'm going to give you the tour. Come on then, old chap, we'll start with the staff lounge." With a friendly pat on the back, Argus bade Felicia good trial and started walking with Padraig.

"So, you've managed to impress Esme and the Dean. Tell us your secret then. Or at the very least," the young man was doing his best to ignore the fact that a group of young girls who were whispering and giggling and fluttering eyelashes at him, but he kept his focus on Padraig. "Tell me about yourself."

[Padraig]

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There'd been no chance of arriving late that morning. Even if Padraig had been inclined to arrive just a couple of bits late, as he was known to time to time, there'd been forces at work, back home, that would have lit a fire under him. So in fact he'd gotten there just a few bits early, but had remained outdoors to make sure that that he didn't have papers poking out of his briefcase, or his shirttails hanging out.

Padraig wasn't usually the nervous or tense sort. But this trial was the beginning of something new, something he hadn't considered really just a cycle ago. He also wasn't the type to worry too much about first impressions. But he'd taken extra care with his wardrobe that morning, to insure that he made a good one. He didn't know quite what to expect, what was planned, but when Felicia came to greet him, he smiled and greeted her in kind.

How strange it still sounded. Professor Augustin. He'd almost think she was talking to somebody else. "Good morning, Felicia. I hope you're doing well," he said. But there were more forms, more paperwork. Of course there was. But if she gave him the time, he'd spend it thoroughly going over each of them before signing and returning them to her.

And then he arrived. At a glance, Padraig didn't realize who he was. He'd heard plenty about Faith's new professor. But hadn't exactly seen him before. Or if he had, he'd been too busy and distracted to notice. Felicia apparently did though, judging by the way her cheeks pinked and her lashes fluttered when he arrived.

It took some effort not to let his own eyes roll skyward at the cheap line the man used, or from the realization that this was the man who'd been giving Faith so much trouble. For just a trill, he considered putting their agreement aside, and going straight for the problem at hand. But there were those impressions to uphold, and what Faith and himself had decided between them. This would take effort, and maybe some acting skills too.

Young thing?. What a strange thing to say, he thought. But Padraig smiled nonetheless. A perfectly congenial smile as he thrust out his hand to the other man. "Professor Hamilton-Smith. I've heard quite a bit about you as well," he said. He considered for a trill, arguing that maybe it wasn't him that pushed any vision, but that he simply filled a slot in a vision the dead had already conceived of. That didn't seem very politic either, so he kept the thought to himself as they set out.

So now, he was an old chap. Nice if the man could make up his mind. "Thank you for making the time for me, professor. I know the university must keep you very busy." But what would he tell then? "I'm afraid there's not much to tell really. I was raised in Venora where I was tutored some by an old alchemist. Later, I studied in Andaris and Rynmere, physics, before moving here to Scalvoris Town to continue my studies. How long have you been teaching here at the university?" he asked.

[Pegasus]

The forms were all meticulously looked over by him; somehow he got the sense that Felicia approved of this. There were a lot of rules for him to memorise and she assured him that he would not need to do such. A copy of the policies would be in his in-tray in his office by the end of the trial. They were about expectations of behaviour, mostly, in terms of dress, punctuality, not turning up to class under the influence of alcohol or drugs. There was a whole policy on use of magic (a very big no go unless under specific circumstances), the role of the mentor and others. Perhaps of particular interest was the fact that there was no rule against being in a relationship with a student, but there was a very clear one against grading any work by such an individual and, should he be in that situation, that work had to be second marked by a colleague no matter where in the grade boundaries it sat.

Therefore, he was asked to sign a "Declaration of Interest" naming any students he had any prior relationship with. He was not asked to identify the nature of the relationship, but each one would mean that his grading of their work must be overseen and double checked as part of the quality control. Examples given included family members, romantic partners and friends. The quality control process was also laid out; ongoing second-marking throughout the qualification and at the end of the qualification a meeting was held per institute where each individual's marks were looked at, reconsidered if necessary and a final decision reached. It all seemed very focused on fairness for the students.

After, however, a truly spectacular display of how being good at flirting can make even the cheesiest chat up line work, Argus turned his attention to Padraig, shook his hand and raised one perfect eyebrow. "Have you now?" Heard about him, that was. He jumped to the conclusion which made sense. "Is Faith keeping up with her lessons with you still? Ah, that explains a lot. She struggles. Offered her extra help, you know, but if she's getting tuition from Dean Manyon's new favourite, well who am I to argue?" His smile to Padraig was, or appeared to be, as genuine as it could be. "Please, call me Argus. All my friends do." He had so many, after all. "How long? Well, this is the first trial of our second season, so that long." Just a glance, not even for a trill, which suggested that he had just asked a bit of a stupid question.

"Interesting story. I was brought in at the last bit. The professor who'd been hired died, suddenly. Literally overnight." They were making their way out of the bits of the university Padraig knew now, across the green to the staff annexe. "So, they called me in. I did my study at Viden, of course." Of course he did, his tone implied. It was the superior place simply by virtue of being the first, oldest etc.

The staff annexe was small, but it had a staff lounge which hung with a very familiar smell ~ either Esme Dashiell chain smoked in here, or she was not the only one who did. In there, Hamilton-Smith showed him the notice boards; whole campus notices, institute specific, then the subject specific ones. Everything was well organised, there was no doubting. There was a staff restaurant; it was a restaurant, too, run by the Knight's Rest chap, Whit, his new friend Argus told him.

Then, finally, it was his office. He wasn't sharing it with anyone, it was just his Argus told him like it was a personal gift. The room itself was pleasant; it had an outside window with a tree outside. There was a desk with a chair behind it. In the corner there was a low table with three armchairs arranged around it and opposite those there were bookshelves all across the wall. It was a pleasant, but largely soul-less place.

Argus made himself completely at home, of course, sitting on one of the armchairs and looking around. "Not bad. Felicia must like you." His, of course, was better. Somehow, that was evident. "So, how are you going to manage this new vision of Dean Manyon's? Soon he's going to have us all teaching two subjects, I fear. We'll lose the specialisms if we're not careful and goodness knows, this place needs to focus on quality." Argus, it seemed, was not a fan of the new regime.

[Padraig]

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There'd been a number of expectations, outlined in the forms he'd filled out. Punctuality, no problem. He lived with a woman who wouldn't allow him to be late to class, or to show up with his hair a mess or with his shirt tails hanging out.

No magic? No problem. He didn't use it and had no plans to. In some circles, alchemy was considered to be a sort of magic. But it wasn't, and the same might be said for many of the sciences. Such wonders could be accomplished, so much potential that it might seem to be, to those looking in.

No rules against relationships with students. Nice, since he didn't intend to end his. Though he and Faith had agreed, they wouldn't go out of their way to make a known thing of it. But it made sense that he shouldn't grade her papers, even was the situation to arise. Still, most others knew that he had at least tutored Faith, or at least a select few. And hers was the only name he'd listed on the declaration of interest.

Padraig wasn't particularly impressed by Argus' flirting skills. But then why would he be? They weren't directed at him, and he'd have been put off, at the least, if they had been. "I no longer tutor Faith," he said simply when the other man asked. "I haven't for quite some time. Medicine isn't my field of study after all." But she struggled? Suddenly it was much more difficult to say nothing, and to keep his cards much closer to the chest than would be his norm.

"I've paid my own tuition, I imagine she's paid her own," he added, biting back what he might have said instead. Just call him Argus? Padraig doubted they'd become friends. The other man had hubris dripping out from every pore, he decided as they entered the staff annex. He might spend some time there, if he followed his nose he might imagine that at least professor Dashiell did.

As for his new office, Padraig's tastes were simple ones, and it would do nicely. A desk and chair, bookshelves, a window so that he didn't feel the walls closing in on him. It was all he needed. Of course he'd rather that Argus would have excused himself, but he didn't have that kind of luck apparently. "It will suit my purposes nicely," he agreed, and propped himself up against the corner of the desk after putting his briefcase down.

"It's new," he said, when asked how he'd manage it. "An excercise in time management and creativity, I guess. And I don't know," he countered when Argus seemed not to care for the vision as much as he might. Though Padraig believed Faith might be right. There might be some jealousy in play instead. "I think there's some promise in it."

While each of the sciences could be studied and excelled at on their own, he added, for purity's sake, to achieve real progress they relied on each other. A good physicist needed a background in mathematics and chemistry. A medical student in chemistry. The same for an alchemist. He'd taught a class already to chemistry students who'd never considered how the study of physics might help further and enhance their studies. Maybe it was this sort of thing that the dean wanted to explore with this new vision of his.

[Pegasus]

Argus watched Padraig and he smiled a friendly and genuine smile. Yes, there was something irking this new chap, no doubt. That was good, he could use it. "Bit touchy there, old chap. I don't mean paying her tuition, I meant giving her extra study support, being her tutor." Definitely something he could use, he thought to himself and he stored it away, happy to whisper about it in Dean Manyon's ear, or preferably in Felicia's actually. She was a better conduit to the Dean, who didn't seem too keen on him.

The office was good for his needs, Padraig declared and Argus grinned at him. "Glad you like it, old chap. I have to say," he made himself quite comfortable, "It will be nice to have someone else of a similar age bracket. I mean, thus far they're all a lot older you know?" Argus was determined, Padraig had to give him that much. "And as for women? Well, I'm afraid there's slim pickings there. There's Pippa, Esme's Assistant Prof, but she likes the ladies. I wonder if her and old Esme, you know." He waved a hand and left the rest to the imagination. He watched, intent on gauging Padraig's reaction. He was fairly sure that he knew exactly what it would be. It was all information, useful information to be stored and held as long as possible.

However, there was a knock on the door and a tall, imposing looking man walked in. He was probably in his fifties and seemed to be human. He gazed intently at Padraig and then at Argus. "Henri Wagstaff. I'm going to mentor you. Thank you, Hamilton-Smith, you can go." Argus gave a chipper grin and rolled his eyes to Padraig behind Henri's back. Then, he exited after promising to 'swing by' and pick Padraig up for lunch.

Henri stepped forward and held out his hand. "It's good to meet you. The Dean speaks highly of you, so does Esme, both of which are good. More importantly, the students liked you." After checking with Padraig if he was happy for him to, Henri sat down and looked at Padraig with an intense and almost baleful glare. "I don't care how much you know. You tell Felicia which books you want, they'll line the walls tomorrow. Adding to what you know is easy."

Apparently, Henri Wagstaff was an intense fellow. "What matters to me is what kind of teacher you are and what you are passionate about. So. Tell me. Tell me what's important to you, what really matters and what lights a fire inside you." Starting with the easy questions, it seemed. "We can start from there."

[Padraig]

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Touchy? How was it, the other man had interpreted his response regarding Faith, as being touchy about it? He'd simply stated a fact, in response to a mistaken assumption. He wasn't tutoring her, and he hadn't paid her tuition.

More and more, Padraig was coming to the conclusion that he disliked this other man to the extent that, well...Maybe it was that, that Hamilton-Smith was sensing, and interpreting in a way that suited him better. Padraig could easily imagine that the man simply couldn't fathom someone not liking him.

Made him wonder then just how astute the Dean was, did he not realize what an ass he had on staff. Padraig smiled congenially and shrugged, moving on. As for Pippa and Esme, it was no concern of his. No surprise or judgment either implied in his expression. To each his or her own. Otherwise he'd give nothing away regarding his own attachments. Implication was, he'd be too busy in the near future with studying, teaching and other duties to concern himself with things like that.

The knock on the door however couldn't have come too soon. The new occupant in his office could only be the man who was meant to act as his mentor. He smiled, pushed himself off the corner of his desk and offered his hand. "A pleasure to meet you professor." Padraig liked him already. His arrival meant that Hamilton-Smith would make his excuses and go.

The man was blunt though. Didn't pull any punches. But that suited Padraig just fine. He'd already grown tired of the games and politics that had oozed out of Hamilton-Smith's pores. "Fair enough," he replied when Wagstaff waved off what he did, or didn't know. After all, some of the smartest people might make terrible teachers. And the same could be said in reverse. On that, they were in agreement.

But what he was passionate about, that was easy. "Well like any scientist I'm interested in what things are made of, how they work, and how they work together. But it's much more than that. I'm not so interested in what I know, but what I don't." He could only imagine that what he, or anyone knew, Padraig explained, just scratched the surface of what was yet to be seen and learned. The expansion of knowledge and possibility, that was what he was passionate about. And that, he added, was what he'd like to inspire in his students, whoever they may be.

[Pegasus]

"Call me Henri. I'll call you Padraig. Except in front of the students, of course. You and him friends?" He asked as Hamilton-Smith left, promising to call by for Padraig for lunch. Henri didn't seem to pull any punches in terms of asking questions and, if his tone was anything to go by, he didn't like Argus. But it was none of his business so he sat and listened.

"Interesting. We share a number of philosophies, that's good. I have two fundamental rules that I will try and instil in you. As a teacher it is you moral duty to be a student, always. That may or may not be formal qualifications, but we are scientists and we must continue to push boundaries, to learn and to do that we must study, research, experiment and question. I do not think we disagree on this." Henri Wagstaff had a strange way of talking; he spoke as though he was absolutely convinced that he was completely right in everything, yet there was no doubting it ~ he was excited at what he said. "Second. As a teacher it is also your moral duty to be a teacher. To consider your pedagogy, your teaching style, what you aim for each class, not for you but them. I've seen your records, you have studied in Viden and in Rynmere. Here, we are different. Most of us," the glance to the door, where Argus had just exited was brief, almost imperceptible. But it was there. "We focus on not just what we teach, but on what they learn, how they learn. If you can maintain those two things, you will do well here."

It seemed, though, that Henri had more questions. These, he told Padraig, were subject specific and were to enable him to put Padraig into the best classes and situations so that he could learn and teach at his most efficient and effective. "Talk to me about chemistry. Assume that you are in the second season of your diploma in that. I presume you are starting to consider a specialism in physics, tell me about what in chemistry would be your specialism. Where are your strengths and where do you wish to expand? Explain to me, as though I don't know it, what your specialism and thesis will be?"

Henri watched him intently as he asked and then, just as he'd finished there was a tap at the door. "Ah, that will be Alice. She brings us tea. Would you like some?" And apparently, every break, Alice the tea lady came and brought fresh tea and a selection of sweet or savoury snacks. Henri got whatever Padraig wanted and then, when they had cups in hand, he waited to hear what his newest mentee had to say.

[Padraig]

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"Henri it is then," Padraig agreed, smiled and realized that while the man was blunt and somewhat demanding so far as what he wanted to know and say, he quite liked him. As for the one who'd just left? He would hardly call Hamilton-Smith a friend, or even a likely prospect. But it didn't seem quite politic to say so outright.

On the other hand he got the impression that Henri wasn't particularly fond of the man either. "He was kind enough to volunteer to show me around the university this morning. But I can't say I know him well. In fact very little to be honest." It was all he had to offer, without letting that sense of diplomacy slip.

They were of like minds regardless, him and Henri. They were scientists, and the great tragedy of becoming teachers would be if they quit reaching, and stopped being curious and wanting to learn more. Padraig couldn't imagine a time when he might declare that he knew all there was to know, and there simply wasn't any more.

But he also agreed with Henri. "I can't imagine a time that I will not have questions or be driven to learn more. I'd like to inspire that same curiosity in my students." The man's next question however was a tricky one. Not in the sense that he didn't know the answer, but that it was only a handful of trials ago that he'd been compelled to add the study of chemistry to his toolbox.

Padraig was already quite familiar with the subject, no deny and he'd done it through self study. But he'd never really considered a specialization in chemistry before. He'd only considered how that knowledge could compliment his interest in physics and alchemy. On the other hand, it was of great interest to Wagstaff.

Lucky for him, Alice's arrival was well timed. It gave him the opportunity to think more on it before offering up an answer. "Just tea, please," he said. No cream or lemon and just a hint of sugar. "Thank you," he said to Henri once he had it, and to Alice as well. But then it was back to the topic at hand.

"I'm sure you know," he said once Alice was gone, "that this is new to me. Unexpected, and so I'm just beginning to consider these things. Physics has been my focus of study, and my knowledge of chemistry has been crucial, both relating to that and in the practice of alchemy. I'd say that honestly, my passion lies in exploring how the three disciplines can interact, and to what extent. What that combination can make possible."

But if a specialty was necessary, a particular focus where chemistry was concerned? "I would have to say physical chemistry, whereby the study of physics is applied to chemistry. Quantum mechanics, thermodynamics," he said more specifically. "The links and relationships between all forms of energy. And the quantization of energy and particles."

[Pegasus]

Henri seemed pleased in Padraig's response and he listened to what he had to say about his specialism, too. Physical chemistry? He smiled and nodded. "So your plan is to unite us as scientists? I'll wait until you've seen the response should someone from the medicine department sit on the table the physicists sit at in the staff lounge and we'll revisit then." His smile was good natured, though and he seemed pleased.

"We need to think about how to do this so that it has the best chance of working." Henri, it seemed, was more of a fan of the Dean's vision. He sipped his tea and considered, then put down the cup and continued to speak. "You are seconded to the ice caves on the thirteenth, yes? From now until then, I want you to get to know the chemists, the department, the equipment and so on. Familiarise yourself." It made sense, he said, and he'd like Padraig to sit in on some classes, Chemistry specifically. He wanted that, he explained, so that Padraig could get a sense of the teaching styles and the levels of knowledge they were teaching at. "So, sit in on all levels, we only go up to Diploma at the moment. Sit in on all teachers. I'll let them know to expect you at some point."

Other than that, Henri said, he wanted him to spend the trials between now and when he left, acclimatising. "We have a staff meeting every fifth trial, eighth bell. Alice brings us bacon sandwiches. She's an excellent tea lady and a bloody awful cook, so we take turns in getting rid of them. We also take turns in bringing food." He wanted there to be a feel of community in the department, and there was.

He knew enough about the ice caves to know that the length of time would be uncertain. So, in what Padraig would discover was a fairly typical fashion, Henri made a decision. "I'm not going to schedule you to do anything until after the 50th. Before you go, work with Felicia and Rose in the library. Have a copy of every book we recommend and at least twice as many we don't. Having sat in on classes, you'll be more clear on what we're expecting." So, he said, he would like Padraig to present him with a plan for a two break lecture on the 50th. He wouldn't be giving it, it could be on a topic of his choice. Henri would talk it through with him, and they would go from there.

"In the meantime, we'll meet after every staff meeting, talk through what you've done, questions and so on. I'll get Felicia to put my timetable in your tray, from the fiftieth, you can start assisting me in class, we'll do a little team teaching. Then, you just need to decide when you're going to take your entrance exam." Henri grinned at him and patted Padraig on the shoulder.

"You've got a big job, lad. We'll take it slowly, alright?"

Off Topic

And I think we're done! Wrap up post from you - review from me!

[Padraig]

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Medics and physicists together? Padraig had it on very good authority that the combination worked quite well. In harmony even. But since Wagstaff might not realize, and he wouldn't invite questions that hadn't been raised, he smiled and shrugged. "I think the real test might be the philosophers and everyone else."

But why not? Each of the sciences to some extent needed input from the others. Better he thought for the students to think about it earlier, rather than later. But yes, he confirmed. He was to be part of the expedition into the ice caves.

Fishing his tea, he nodded, and was glad to hear that the man didn't appear ready to just toss him into the deep end. Observing other classes in session, especially chemistry ones, would be invaluable and help prepare him for taking the podium, so to speak, for himself.

But bringing food to staff meetings once in a while? That he could do. How good it was however depended on who it was who actually did the cooking. If it was him, they'd get boiled eggs and toast, or pastries purchased somewhere along his way to work. "I'll make a point of visiting the library this trial," he vowed. In fact, it struck Padraig as a good way to get out of lunching with Hamilton-Smith, without actually needing to decline the invitation directly.

"It appears so," he agreed, straightened up off the edge of the desk and smiled. A very big job, and a lot to do in such a short time, when combined with needing to complete his physics diploma. "I'll do my best not to disappoint," he vowed, and thanked the man genuinely for taking the time to speak with him.