My husband, the 8th World Wonder

I thought that I was probably pretty biased in this opinion, but I am coming to the realization that it's fact.  My husband, is the 8th world wonder.  His sister, Zoe, described him as that once, and I would have to say that it's probably the closest description of him.  I don't have all the time in the world to describe why he's so wonderful, but here are a few of the latest successes he does (and is so very very humble about them.)

It begins with school.  Most people do their masters program first for grad school, and then have to apply to get into a PhD program.  He surpassed that first step and was admitted straight to the PhD program, which means, that he was up against other candidates that already had their Masters.  Whoo hoo!  I hear that physics GRE is nothing that one wants to take again and he has the highest GRE score at WMU by far right now.  Amazing.

After one semester he is number one in his class and the faculty there is recognizing him for his amazing abilities.  Because he is a grad student they teach (or grade) labs.  Usually they are teaching lower level physics labs, because they are still getting into the swing of school, and the school doesn't want to overwhelm them.  However, this semester he got offered to teach a modern physics lab.. which is a pretty big deal.  They get to use their particle accelerator... fancy!  This is a lab that they normally offer people who have a year or two left in their PhD program, so the fact that they offered it to him after ONE semester is mind blowing.  The other student that teaches this lab is graduating this semester, so Gaetan will be taking over for him.

Not only did he get this honor, he is getting published (in a way)!  He wrote what he wanted his students to do for their pre-lab and the lab coordinator (Chris) and the professor who is teaching the lecture (Dr. Bautista) LOVED what he wrote.  Chris told him that if he used any format from a different site that he should give credit, and Dr. Bautista told him that, "THIS IS FANTASTIC.  I AM PUTING IT IN THE LAB MANUAL FOR NEXT YEAR."  I am glad that they want to give him credit for his hard work and that he will have his name on something for next year!  It amazes me that he just knows what to do and how to make things run efficiently and smoothly.  That is a gift that, obviously, not everybody has.

On top of that, it seems that most everybody (students and faculty) in the department know who he is.  People that he's never heard of, or met.  But I guess people hear about big deals.

The latest honor has been Dr. Wuosmaa, who has been on sabbatical in Europe all year, has even heard of Gaetan and wants to do research with him.  Now, in that short sentence a lot is going on.  Let me give you some background.  Dr. Wuosmaa, who pretty much, by himself, brings in all the funds for the physics department at WMU.  He is the head researcher at Argon National Labs in Chicago, which is the most prestigious physics lab in the nation.  He usually takes on a new student every 5-7 years and people have to apply to do research him.  And just because you apply, doesn't mean that you are going to be chosen.  If that year he doesn't like any of the applicants, he just doesn't take one.  This last student that he's been working with is from MIT (not even from WMU).  He just flies in him a couple times a month so that they can collaborate on what they've been working on.  Sounds like a pretty big deal.  The amazing thing is that Dr. Wuosmaa is flying back from Europe (a special trip) just to meet Gaetan.  All the other faculty has been talking about him so much that he wants to do research with him... which is awesome!  The fact that he didn't have to apply and got hand picked by this guy is ridiculous.  And, the guy does his research in molecular and atomic physics, the same thing that Gaetan is looking into doing. Hrm, God... do you have a hand in this?  :)

And to top it all off he is probably the world's greatest Dad.  He comes home from school/work and just wants to play with the kids.  It would be one thing if he was so smart and couldn't do much else, but he's not.  With his schedule it allows him to be home in the mornings, in which there are days he just lets me sleep in.  It's fantastic.  I am SPOILED.

Playing trains with Tristan, Dog and Hippo.

Papa pile with the kiddos

I hope that I let him know how much is means to this family and what he does matters so much to us.  We are extremely proud of you Papa and all the hard work you do for us.  We look forward to see what God has in store for you and all the gifts that He's given you.  We love you so much.

JVG