I was 20, but it was the first time I'd ever been to Boston.

Kirstie Paul and another student from England had just arrived at Logan Airport.

They were about to embark on a new adventure, living in a new city, working with a very

important Harvard professor.

We stepped off the plane, still a little bit jack lad, very disorientated, going up to this

prestigious academic institute that's famous all over the world.

Kirstie could think of only one thing to keep her nervousness in check.

She had corresponded with a graduate student, Maureen Brinkworth, and Maureen was to be

her supervisor and her mentor.

Maureen was also going to be Kirstie's lifeline, someone who would help her navigate

not just the halls of Harvard, but the streets of Boston.

So we stumbled to the place where she said she was going to be, so she said she would

be in Harvard Square opposite a certain restaurant.

And so we find it and then we see her and we're just so nervous, but Maureen just had this

massive big smile and she just kind of puts you at ease right away.

And she was like, I'm so excited to meet you, welcome.

And then she took us around.

And with that, the ice was broken.

Over the next few months, Maureen became more than a mentor to Kirstie.

She became her friend.

But there was something else that was interesting here, this kind of friendship between student

and teacher was also the subject of the research that Kirstie and Maureen were conducting along

...