Late at night.
As always.
Juno and Karen had settled in, while Adam and Paige, after diving into quantum physics, moved on to a deeper, more personal conversation.
"You're studying math?"
Paige's eyes glazed over for a moment before she suddenly asked.
"Yup."
Adam nodded.
His study, aside from medical books, had recently been stacked with a ton of math texts. The signs of studying were pretty obvious.
"Why?"
Paige propped herself up on her side, looking at Adam curiously.
"Uh…"
Adam paused for a second, then chuckled. "Well, naturally to become a better doctor! Math's the foundation of all science, right? The Duncan-Adler formula proves it perfectly. Since I've got the energy and the ability, learning a bit more can't hurt." 😎
"You're such a weird guy."
Paige reached out, grabbed Adam's chin, and playfully tilted it side to side. "Back in the day, your IQ seemed pretty average—no real standout talent. But in just a few years, you're out here playing chess with me while reciting crazy complex data without missing a beat. And in between studying medicine like a madman, I saw your reading notes—your self-taught math progress is insane! Sure, IQ might improve over time, but not in such a massive leap. So, spill it—how'd you do it?" 🤔
"Can't I just say I was hiding my skills all along?"
Adam grinned cheekily.
"Nope."
Paige shook her head firmly. "That kind of dumb isn't something you can fake."
"…"
Adam's mouth twitched. Ouch.
"Hey, what're you doing?"
Paige frowned as Adam dramatically clutched his chest.
"I'm not sure. Gotta do some soul-searching first, then I'll let you know."
Adam said it with a straight face, barely holding back a laugh.
"Ugh, not this again! You're so annoying!"
Paige rolled her eyes hard. 🙄 Last time they had a late-night heart-to-heart, Adam swore on his conscience while patting his chest. Now he's pulling this "soul-searching" nonsense? What even is this guy on about?
"Sorry."
Adam shifted his position, still grinning.
"…"
Paige didn't even want to respond anymore.
"I'm not Leonard, you know."
Adam's smug smile grew wider as he teased her.
"What does Leonard have to do with this?"
Paige couldn't help but ask.
She knew Adam's goofy friend—decently smart but always so timid, barely able to look girls in the eye when talking. No way he'd pull off something like Adam was doing now.
"Heh."
Adam couldn't hold back his laughter anymore and started spilling some of Leonard's most embarrassing moments.
Of course, Leonard hadn't met Penny yet at this point, so Adam just referred to "a certain girl" in the stories.
Basically, it was a little anecdote recorded in Leonard's mom Beverly's book The Hopeless Loser—a classic case of "a leopard can't change its spots."
Leonard had always been stuck on the left side, forever liking the left side, and… well, you get the idea.
Such a kid. Doesn't even understand the beauty of wanting it all! 😂
"You seriously want to study math, though?"
Paige, already used to Adam's shamelessness, breezed past his crude vocabulary and shifted the focus back to math.
"Yep."
Adam nodded.
"Then work hard and finish your undergrad and grad studies quick. After that, you could be my PhD student."
Paige said it with a serious tone.
"You're planning to teach?"
Adam looked at her, genuinely surprised.
In the States, university professors are split into two types: those who research and teach (assistant professor, associate professor, full professor) and those who only research (research assistant professor, research associate professor, research full professor).
Most PhDs start as assistant professors or research assistant professors. But since assistant professor is the main path to becoming a full professor, and with the growing number of PhDs, those spots are getting harder to snag.
Climbing the ladder further takes 3 to 7 years of probation, plus outstanding academic and teaching achievements, and the approval of your peers.
Associate and full professors, though, are tenured positions—kinda like a permanent gig in some countries. Unless you mess up big time, even the dean can't fire you. Plus, the pay and benefits are way better.
It's why when a tenured professor went nuts, everyone around Sheldon was celebrating and fighting tooth and nail for the spot.
Take Sheldon, for example. He started as a research assistant professor, focusing solely on string theory in theoretical physics. At that point, he could've become a lecturer and switched to teaching assistant professor.
But his first attempt at teaching ended with him spinning around in class only to get a collective middle finger from all his students.
Later, he read their brutal reviews: "Einstein's theory of relativity applies perfectly here—Dr. Cooper's class makes time crawl at a glacial pace," "Dr. Cooper's like a giant cockroach," "Just kill me already."
Sheldon, who thought he'd successfully "educated" a generation, was pissed. He also remembered how he failed miserably trying to teach his brother Georgie back in high school and decided to give up on educating "stupid humans" altogether.
So, he naturally ditched the teaching professor path.
But when his string theory research hit a dead end, and life threw too many changes his way, he just couldn't handle it and ran off. When he came back, Caltech—desperate to keep a "beautiful mind" like him—promoted him from research assistant professor to teaching assistant professor.
Sheldon's response? "I ran away for a bit, and now you're giving me a raise and promotion to teach the next generation? You guys are such freaks!" 😂
Anyway, a teaching assistant professor who juggles research and teaching is obviously tougher—and higher status—than a research-only assistant professor.
Sheldon had no choice but to agree, becoming a teaching assistant professor like Leonard.
Surprise, surprise!
Leonard's position was actually higher than Sheldon's all along.
He'd even once threatened to ditch Sheldon at the comic book store unless Sheldon gave a guest lecture to his students.
So yeah, Leonard was a teaching assistant professor—researching and teaching—though in the science pecking order, Sheldon still looked down on him.
To be fair, Sheldon only struggled with teaching because he couldn't connect with students, not because he lacked the credentials.
Once he accepted Caltech's "freaky" offer and became a teaching assistant professor, he was immediately able to mentor PhD students (like Howard, who wanted to study under him).
Normally, only full professors mentor PhD students, with a rare few exceptional associate or assistant professors getting the gig.
Paige, currently a research assistant professor, could easily switch to teaching assistant professor if she wanted—her school would jump at the chance.
And with her brilliance, even as an assistant professor, becoming a PhD mentor wasn't out of the question.
"I've been thinking about it," Paige said. "Undergrads and master's students are too many—I don't wanna deal with that. But a PhD student? I'd only take you on. Once you get your math PhD, I'd ditch teaching and go back to being a research assistant professor. By then, I might even be an associate or full professor." 😊
"You'd start teaching just for me?"
Adam felt a bit touched.
"I'd mentor you, and as long as you're up to par, you'd graduate easily," Paige nodded. "That way, you'd have more flexibility with your time and wouldn't delay your doctor career."
"Nah, I just wanna learn more math for the sake of it—I don't really care about a math PhD," Adam said with a smile. "Having you as my mentor would definitely make things easier, but it wouldn't look great to others. Even if I got the degree, people would probably talk behind my back."
"Oh, I see."
Paige blinked, processing that.
"But thanks anyway," Adam added, his lips curling into a mischievous grin. "Besides, you don't have to teach me in a classroom, you know…" 😏
"…"
Paige was speechless.