The definition of “mentor” is a wise and trusted teacher or counselor, someone who shares their knowledge and wisdom with a colleague who is less knowledgeable. The definition implies that the mentee is the only one who benefits. But if you talk with mentors, you’ll quickly learn that they often gain just as much if not more from the experiences as those they’ve counseled.
That’s what we found when we interviewed several UCSB grad student mentors and a couple of their mentees. What follows, in a two-part series, are their accounts of peer mentoring experiences, from the challenges and obstacles to the triumphs and rewards.
Interviews were conducted with UCSB grad student mentors Sameh Helmy, Hannah Goodwin, Lauren Winczewski, and Peter Burks; and mentees Carmen Segura and Briana McKoy.
In Part 1 of our two-part series, we interview Sameh Helmy, Carmen Segura, and Peter Burks.
SAMEH HELMY AND HIS MENTEE, CARMEN SEGURA
Sameh Helmy, a third-year Ph.D. student studying Organic Chemistry, told the GradPost he has always had a love for and a strong drive toward teaching.
“During my undergraduate studies I was fortunate to conduct research under the direction of Dr. Philip Hampton (Professor of Chemistry at Cal State Channel Islands),” Sameh said. “Dr. Hampton instilled in me the philosophy that my job as a scientist would be threefold: 1) conducting research, 2) communicating my findings, and 3) most importantly, encouraging others to become scientists.”
Sameh has been a mentor for nearly half a dozen programs, while he was a student at Cal State Channel Islands as well as here at UCSB.
In the summer of 2012, Sameh mentored Carmen Segura, at the time a student at Santa Rosa Junior College who has since transferred to UCSB to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry.
Sameh said Carmen “worked on an extension of my work, examining the effects of extended conjugation on organic photoswitches.” He said he developed the initial concept for Carmen’s work and helped her to learn new synthetic and analytical techniques.
Grad student mentor Sameh Helmy assists Carmen Segura.For Carmen, Sameh served as a great resource whose advice ultimately helped her decide what studies she wanted to pursue here.
"Sam was always willing to go the extra mile,” Carmen said. “I was always learning something new. Whether it was lab techniques, chemistry, writing abstracts, or preparing for a presentation, Sam was always there as a valuable resource. Also, during the summer I had to declare the major I was going to pursue,” said Carmen, who initially applied to UCSB as a Biochemistry major. “Ever since the spring my interest in Chemistry was much stronger than Biochemistry. Sam’s advice gave me the nudge to declare the major that I really wanted,” she said.
Beyond learning from Sameh how to do research in her field of study, Carmen also learned from him the importance of the proper temperament. “Sam has a lot of energy that’s paced and controlled,” Carmen explained. “I have a lot energy as well, but it wasn’t as paced and controlled as Sam’s. I got excited often and I would talk so fast that sometimes it wasn’t understandable. I was also timid except when I get excited in the beginning of the program. However, I opened up and became more comfortable. We got along really well throughout the program. It was a friendly environment where I could approach Sam with questions, and he could give me constructive criticism.”
Being a part of the mentorship program with Sameh allowed Carmen to gain “a deeper insight into the research world. I left feeling more confident, skilled, and prepared. I learned valuable information about the grad school application process. In the end I gained valuable tools that I can further take on toward the pursuit of my career,” she said.
Carmen has high praise for Sameh, calling him a great mentor “who pushed me but was always conscious about not overwhelming me.”
“Do it!” Sameh says, when asked what he would tell a grad student who is considering becoming a mentor. “It will be an eye-opening and extremely rewarding experience. Mentoring provides an opportunity to develop your skills as an educator, and dedication to mentoring is highly desirable to future employers (both in and outside of academia). Mentoring can also help to take your work in new directions. The questions that interns ask often probe the core fundamentals of the work and can reveal new insights to the mentor.”
Sameh has gained personal satisfaction through his mentoring experiences. “Watching a student’s interest and excitement for science grow is the most rewarding aspect of mentoring for me. Undergraduate students often see science as dry facts or pre-test experiments with little to no room for discovery. Watching a student’s shift to the reality that science is the exploration and discovery of the unknown is an experience and reward beyond measure.”
Of course, mentors do face challenges. One of the greatest ones for Sameh “is remembering that often a new mentee is completely unprepared for the realities of research. While they may have some understanding of theory,” he said, “practical techniques, time management, and being able to deal with things not working as expected are often things they have not faced before.”
Sameh says mentoring “has done wonders” in helping him to develop his skills as an educator. “In addition to exponentially increasing my patience, it has also challenged me to learn new ways to explain both techniques and theory.” He advises grad student mentors to “always remember that your mentee is there to learn and results should come second to their development.”
PETER BURKS
Peter Burks is a 5th-year Ph.D. student studying Inorganic Chemistry. His mentoring experiences have included working with U.S. undergraduates during their 10-week summer internships and with international undergrads during 10-week seminars.
“I wanted to develop skills in mentorship, one-on-one teaching of actual technique and skills versus book concepts,” Peter explained about why he participates in the mentoring process. “I also wanted to get better at communication and I simply enjoy helping people reach and discover their goals and talents. I find it to be a challenging but rewarding process. In addition, if you do a good job, then your student's productivity can help you accomplish your goals in lab.”
There are two students Peter has mentored for longer than 10 weeks, primarily with laboratory synthesis projects. “We have made a variety of nanoparticles that we use to design and study light-activated drug delivery systems. Generally, we try to start simple and let the mentee run easy reactions to get the hang of things, but then, within a few months, both mentees began working on significant synthetic aspects of the project,” Peter said. “In one case, the mentee became fairly independent, which was extremely helpful for my research. He was a talented scientist.”
The roles of advisor and counselor are important ones for a mentor, and bring great rewards. “I loved helping the students figure out what they wanted to do after they graduated – and then help them reach those goals,” Peter said. “In my case, both students wanted to go to Ph.D. programs in Chemistry, therefore I helped them prepare their application and then supported them through the process. When one got into a good school, it was very rewarding. I hope my mentees walk away feeling like they made progress, from a holistic perspective, toward their life goals when they finish working with me. I also want them to develop important skills in planning, organization, and communication – because these are generally much more important than the actual laboratory techniques they may learn from me.”
Peter Burks, right, works with a mentee in the lab.
Peter has some advice for grad students who may want to become mentors. “Be honest with yourself and assess whether you are ready to schedule for two people instead of just yourself,” he said. "Although it is a constant learning process, trying to schedule tasks and accomplishments for your mentee is important. It allows them to gain a sense of accomplishment as well as determine a sense of direction and how they contribute to the research project you are working on. These are important things to think about because, as graduate students, we often reside in a world with a fairly chaotic and spontaneous schedule with artificial deadlines and which leads to a completely different concept of time when compared to most undergraduates who are taking classes and exams, etc. It is important to try to bridge this cultural gap between you and your mentee.”
The key to a good and successful working relationship is communication, Peter said. “Mentees cannot read your mind. Therefore, excessive communication, setting goals and expectations, is better than under-doing it,” he believes.
The value of grad student mentoring extends well beyond a student’s time at UCSB. “No matter what job you take after you graduate, you will have to mentor some again,” Peter said. “Grad school is a great opportunity to hone those skills … so that when you have to do it in a job setting, you can excel. Each mentee is different, therefore try to take on a couple of them during your degree program so that you can see that each mentee requires a different style – it’s good to understand how to motivate and excite different types of people.”
In Part 2 of “Peer Mentoring: Grad Students Discuss the Challenges and Rewards,” you’ll learn how inspiration and passion benefited one mentee, and how one simple act had a profound effect on a grad student mentor. Stay tuned.