Sheldon froze. No one ruffled his hair. He had a strict no-contact policy. And yet, he didn’t immediately recoil. He just stood there, stunned, as the perky coed walked into his house as if she owned it.
But the damage was done. For the first time in his life, Sheldon Cooper had met someone who could not only keep up with him, but occasionally, just occasionally, lap him.
A Math Emergency and a Perky Coed
Paige grinned. “Oh, I’m just a math major. University of Texas. I’m mostly here to organize his notes. He’s a little… scattered.”
“Everything with a silicon chip has feelings, Meemaw,” he replied, picking it up. “I’m buying it.” young sheldon s02e10 m4b
“I can’t solve it,” she said quietly.
Paige Swanson went on to win the Fields Medal at age 32. I went on to win a Nobel Prize at an age that was, frankly, much too old to be exciting. We crossed paths a few times over the years. At conferences. At lectures. Once, at a supermarket in Pasadena, where she was buying frozen waffles and I was buying a new graphing calculator. She still had that same ponytail. She still ruffled my hair. And I still let her. Sheldon froze
Paige laughed again. And this time, Sheldon almost— almost —laughed too.