Reflections from Eos Trinidad

When Guanglei Hong asked me to mentor undergrads for the summer, I was initially apprehensive because I did not see myself as a mentor, and because of other priorities that may disable me to be a good mentor. Nonetheless, I said yes because of the possibility of being witness to the growth of the students. And this is exactly what I saw! I’ve seen students who poured a lot of hard work, time, effort, and cognitive resources into thinking through different challenges of coding data, organizing information, writing results, creating a website, searching the literature, and understanding how our project contributes to the bigger picture. I’ve seen students who had a deeper understanding of the ins and outs of a research project–and hopefully, have a deeper appreciation as well of the science and art of research. Most importantly, I’ve seen students who provided our group with new insights and ideas on how to think about the ways people cope with the current pandemic. 

I ask myself what I ever did to be witness to this, and I answer that there were just three things I did: First, I listened. I tried to hear what they had to say and share. I hope to have made space for their ideas, their inputs, their contribution. I hope to have provided them a holding room to test out insights and possibilities of acting. Second, I organized. I hope to have created some sense of structure in our unstructured lives brought about by COVID. We had a Box account, a few weekly meetings, some one-on-ones, and a general plan when the week starts. I think this is important as I think about future opportunities of helping and mentoring others, and the need for structures that are both firm but flexible. Third, I shared. Somehow, I hope to have shared with them the knowledge I have of research and that they got a more complete picture of this process. I hope to have shared what I would do when stuck, what insights I learned from many great professors and mentors, and how the initial confusion and disappointments will eventually lead to fulfilling insights. 

In the end, I hope they may continue to flourish, and remember what Shakespeare said in Act 2 of Julius Caesar, “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste death but once.”