Build your team: how-to get mentors

You are your best cheerleader, encouraging yourself to accomplish your goals. But I have learned that one voice can only be so loud. Imagine the sea of voices if there were at least ten other people cheering with you, supporting your endeavors. Thus, if I could advise you to do only one thing, that would be to build your cheerleading squad, your “team.” Yes, your team... a group of people from whom you can seek advice and guidance and who will ultimately support your endeavors.

You may be asking yourself, “who should be on my team?” The members of your team can be of varying ages, reside in differing locations, and work in a broad number of fields. Who comprises your team will be specific to your needs as they pertain to your goals. For example, I have people on my team who

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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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