Mentors

[nugget]

I've been thinking about mentorship lately and was curious to hear from others who feel comfortable sharing....Who is your mentor and why? In what ways does this person act as your mentor? How did the mentorship role come about?

[nugget]

Anyone?

[ProfLorax]

My academic mentor is also my advisor. I chose her because she represents the kind of professor I want to be: widely published, committed to teaching, never intimidating, and a mom. She always responds to my emails. She's very professional, so we don't hang out outside of academic contexts; that being said, she also understands that academics are more than their scholarship, so she'll ask me about life outside of school in our meetings as well. She's been a huge advocate for me, making sure I got a teaching schedule that would both fulfill my contract and give me time off once the baby comes. 

 

Honestly, the mentorship relationship came about during recruitment. She was the most active in recruiting me during the decision-making process, and she was one of my POI's. We Skyped and emailed before I accepted that university's offer. Once I met her in person, I confirmed she was the kind of person I wanted to oversee my academic career. 

[smg]

My mentor is an old boss.  I did research for a project of his for a few years.   He's been great support in applying to grad schools and answering a deluge of confused questions.  He is in a different field but has similar research interests so he can provide useful feedback.  I imagine once I get accepted into a program he will still play some role in my future research. 

[maelia8]

My mentor is the professor in the department who is from (and specializes in) the country whose history I primarily research. I mentioned him as a POI in my application and at visit day, he intimated to me that he had been on the 5-person selection committee and personally advocated my admission because he thought my work was interesting.  He's calm, steady, very friendly, chill, and a good communicator, and (this is a very good sign, I think) incredibly popular among his other older graduate students, who all love him and refer to him by first name. Even though he's very busy because he has a lot of grad students and is in the final stages of editing his book, he makes time to see me and even talk about little things like what courses to take next semester

[TMP]

I have quite a few mentors.  They play different roles in my life and career.  My adviser is my "larger-than-life" mentor.  Like proflorax said about her adviser, mine is someone who I truly aspire to be.  She's an incredible, tireless teacher who will bend over backwards for her students who do things for her.  She's very active in our shared communities.  She's a wonderful person all around- just basically my professional and personal role model.  She and I met while I was applying to grad schools and we've always stayed in touch because she liked my work and felt a connection as an alumnae of my previous institution.  It was a match made in heaven.

 

I have three mentors who serve more as guides and sounding boards for my research.  They steer me in the direction where they feel and think my work will shine.  They listen and offer insights when we discuss my research.  One of them is my former adviser at the MA level, another through grad school application process, and third as her RA when I was an intern in an academic research center.

 

All of them are women.  It's hardly a surprise as a woman myself, I'd naturally seek out female mentors who have broken the glass ceiling in our male-dominated field and have the ability to empower others to follow them.

 

Mentoring, remember, can't be forced.  It grows organically and needs to be a two-way street.

[Tall Chai Latte]

My mentor is the professor I worked for during undergrad. He was patient and never stingy about sharing his knowledge. This is the reason why I decided to pursue a PhD and potentially research as a lifelong career; the experience has been positive, and I took away a lot of valuable skills with me. Although I do largely different things now as a PhD student, I still use some of the old knowledge! I still stop by his office and say hi if I'm home for the holiday.  

[The Wayfarer]

My mentor is one of my professors who I met during my M.A. program; I had her for one class and she is also the director of the M.A. program. She really helped me in the process of applying to PhD programs and we also text regarding non-school things but I know whenever I have an issue I can reach out to her for advice.

 

So far in my PhD program it seems that I will have my advisor (she's very no-nonsense, all work) and a potential mentor. My advisor is an extremely nice person but very intense. She expects that 90% of the work you will do yourself, at minimum, and she's there to push you over the finish line. Which I like in an academic sense but unless there's a drastic change I cannot see her taking on the mentor role.

 

On the other hand, my supervising professor who I TA for this semester (and RA for next semester) has definitely given me more practical, lifestyle kind of advice on how to deal with a PhD program. They actually agreed with me on how intense my advisor is.

[lyrehc]

I believe it takes time to build mentor relationships.  I have a professor from my undergraduate program who has been very encouraging about my pursuit of higher education and I consider him a mentor, but we only correspond 3-4 times a year now.  My husband's mentor is much more hands' on and sends him messages through Facebook or email several times a month.

 

Established graduate students can also mentor.  I had a couple who I asked a billion and one questions my first year who were always willing to take the time to answer and help me look at the possibilities.  Sometimes that peer relationship which can guide students through the political pitfalls that all departments have is invaluable.

 

I'm just starting my 2nd year.  I have an advisor who I adore and 2 other committee members with whom I regularly converse with about my program, my research, and my goals.  Each of them is acting as a guide and supporting me - there is definitely mentorship.

[nugget]

Thanks for the stories everyone! I enjoyed reading about all of your mentorship experiences.

[ProfLorax]

Established graduate students can also mentor.  I had a couple who I asked a billion and one questions my first year who were always willing to take the time to answer and help me look at the possibilities.  Sometimes that peer relationship which can guide students through the political pitfalls that all departments have is invaluable.

I can't second this enough. This became doubly true for me. As soon as I announced my pregnancy, I was welcomed into an official cohort of parents in my program, who all have been amazing on offering advice regarding scheduling, childcare, parental leave, pediatricians, etc. And outside of the parent community, the older students in my program have been amazing, sharing their reading list for comps, study strategies, reading over article submissions, helping me tackle teaching issues, etc.