In 2012, I couldn’t fly back from Sheffield to Mexico due to a visa issue. My student visa was due for a renewal and the process was going to take roughly four months. It was a long, draining uphill battle, but still, the real issue was missing out on holidays with my parents.

I usually went away the day after the big Christmas do that the Kroto Institute and the GPRG put together. They usually went for Revolucion de Cuba, a couple of small blocks down Mappin Street. That way anyone could stumble back home either by a tough uphill walk (me!) or grab a cab or the tram. Autumn of 2012 was work-heavy, as I had to analyse a lot of sediment from the river with various methods, including the rather dangerous Walkley-Black method.

My tutor, Steve Thornton, was a very strict person. The reason was that he had to be that way so we, his students, could safely work any research method. Thoroughness and discipline, no nonsense, but caring in the end. The first time I saw that layer was on an Easter break, when we had to re-arrange the lab as it was in a bit of a disarray. It was the third day of cataloguing and re-arranging when he said to me “do you know why I trust you as a PhD student? You have drive and you have great ideas, especially for categorising.” I held my tears of joy, I couldn’t believe he could be that warm with people. Second time he was chummy -and maybe a little overprotective- was with the three day marathon of Walkley-Black work I had to do. He popped up from time to time, checking on the results, the method, and really, to check on me. He knew my fidgety nature and although he did chastise me for being slow paced on lab work, he knew the reason why.

So that Christmas do on 2012, near the end of the night, I was really feeling bad. Both for not going home and because the anniversary of bad break up had just passed and a lot of memories I had of Sheffield and that girlfriend still lingered. I think Steve saw me crestfallen, and being a few pints beyond the usual, he sat down, patted me on the back, and talked shop. But really, just like with lab work, he was checking on me. He gave me a few pointers for future work, and the planning ahead for 2013.

I did not finish my PhD and the reasons are saved for another post. Sorry, had to save some stories for later!

I always appreciate the support Steve gave me, which seemed distant or little for some, but I felt helped by him. The bureaucracy of the UK government is no fault of him, honestly. Gotta admit I got misty eyed once I saw him reading -and chuckling- while reading a copy of one of my zines. Where he got it? No idea, but it made my day.

So Last Broadcast reminds me of Steve. It’s a heartbreak song that once I attached to another memory that made me walk a good 10 miles in the snow, starting in Crookes, ending somewhere City Road Cemetery and back to Crookes. Better attach it to a tutor that guided me through a though time, in his own way.

-Sam J. Valdés López