Career evolution

I think I am experiencing a career evolution. Well, at least I observed a new role for myself within my career. Currently I am a fifth year graduate student striving toward completing a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences... and I still feel much like a student since I believe that I need more training and advice in order to become a better scientific researcher. However, within the past month, it just hit me that I have begun to mentor other students who are also seeking a career in the sciences. I did not realize that I had actually reached a point at which others sought my opinions and advice. I have always wanted to mentor students... I just did not think I would begin to do so this soon. I have no complaints, only joy! Listed below are a couple of tidbits of advice I shared with students.

Seek help when you need it...
I came from a high school that did not adequately prepare me for many college-level courses, which made me sometimes feel a bit nervous about how I would perform relative to my classmates. Since I felt nervous, I sought out help to make sure I did the best I could in those courses by signing up for on-campus tutoring. Some may think tutoring is costly. However, many campuses offer free tutoring, so

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A summer of scientific research and teaching

There has been a lot going on during summer 2008. Over the past five weeks I served as a mentor for undergraduates in a summer research program hosted by my university. In this role, I assisted a small group of students with constructing scientific research posters and offered advice about the graduate school experience.


Just this past week I finished a course that counts toward receiving a certificate in college teaching. I decided to enroll in this certificate program because

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