I used to teach ballroom dancing as a way to earn some pocket money during my master's studies. It was an interesting experience, but I never thought of it as serious professional training, because it was so different from my real job as a scientist. But now that experience has become useful to me in the lab.

I never thought there would be a day when I would be teaching students at my university. The prospect seemed distant and unreal. But now it is a task I must undertake: I am helping to supervise a master's student. This is not a classroom full of children, but one person sitting next to me.

I suddenly realized that I bear a great deal of responsibility for the quality of his work, and that I must do my best to encourage him and to help him improve his skills. Although this scared me at first, I began to teach and to learn from teaching. I finally understood the importance of the management, psychology and philosophy classes that I had to take earlier in my education. These classes showed me a different way of looking at the world — and at people.

I now see that my experience as a dance teacher was not a waste of time either. It showed me how different people react to different situations. I've been able to transfer the knowledge gained in dance classes to laboratory teaching, and this has also helped my everyday relations with people in general.