In Your Office

by Scott Erdley

There are two people in my educational background who have made the greatest impact on me. One was my high school German teacher. He said, "When considering your career, consider if you like things or people. And you take it from there." I chose people. Things, that is, the computers I use within the field of nursing, have come in as a tangential interest.

At UB, Professor Judy Ronald influenced me. When I was an undergraduate, I took a research course that she taught. Her forte was computers; she had worked for IBM for years as a programmer before she got into nursing. Later, when I was a graduate student, we were talking in her office. She said, "Where do you see yourself in five or 10 years?"

I said, "In your office."

Judy helped to create professional opportunities for me at that time. There was a Nursing Honor Society convention in Indianapolis. I had participated in an online research project. The project used the Internet to analyze the contents of listserves and newsgroups. We had about 100 people from 14 countries participating, and nobody ever physically met everybody. It was all done over e-mail. Judy wanted me to talk about the project at the convention. I had to make a poster, and she funded its production over at Abbott Hall. I never really understood how much they cost until this year.

Lo and behold, when I was a grad student and Judy retired, I was assigned to her office. I worked in there for a year.  I'm teaching about the use of computers in nursing. It was the spookiest feeling that you could possibly have, saying I was going to be in her office . . . and here I am.

For some odd reason, the postal service refuses to acknowledge that Judy has moved now that she has retired, so I collect her mail at school and periodically deliver it. We invariably have long talks. We have a good time.