Mentoring into a research career by myself and also with an actual mentor
By Scarlet Weiss UA’29 and Jim Stellar
I (SW) met James Stellar, a psychology professor, through a recommendation from a counselor at the school. I had heard about how James was mentoring students on potential research work, which intrigued me as someone who has an interest in doing my own research one day. I would like to take note of how simple the process was, as it all started with an email about discussing his work in person. And through our meetings, we had many talks about what it is like to be in the field, his previous work with students when he had his lab, and the potential I had within myself. He gave me the advice to talk with the Psychology faculty here at UAlbany to seek out opportunities to work in a lab and gain some hands-on experience.
Mentoring can be a very powerful resource for students to utilize. It especially was for me, as I (JS) have mentioned before in this blog series. In this blog, we want to explore why that is so. From my perspective as a professor, it is about the kind of inspiration towards what is possible for oneself that derives from a trusted relationship with someone who has prior experience. This is a little different from useful peer mentoring or the support college students can get from their families – all of which is also based on trust. But there is something different when it comes from a professional in what one might think is their field or career. In college, with professors and other experts teaching classes and conducting scholarly research, that structure offers opportunities for students to interact with faculty in the classroom and even in their own scholarship. That interaction can provide a kind of positive feel and the confidence that helps make a decision, and that feel combined with the support and encouragement of a trusted mentor can lead to inspiration – the “I can do that” mindset on the part of a student. Also, a little secret is that it is highly positive for the mentor too.
Through interviewing and meeting the Psychology department faculty at UAlbany who do research, furthers my (SW) goals of possibly going for the PhD degree over my initial plans for the more clinical PsyD degree. It is important to understand that I am fresh out of my first year here, now as a sophomore, but the road ahead is long and full of future learning, some of it perhaps unexpected (or so they tell me). My love for Psychology first emerged in my Psychology 101 class my Senior year of high school, which touched briefly upon every corner of the subject. However, the ones that stuck the most were the studies. In every part of Psychology, there had to be some kind of experiment that proved what we now know as fact. I aspired to become one of those people who made history in the field. But I knew that if I was going to be a researcher, I had to know what kind I would be. I learned about the many different kinds of research, like observational research, correlational research, and, of course, experimental research, to name a few. I noticed that I strayed away from the more therapeutic kinds like case studies, as I wanted to focus more on the quantitative data that better supports my claims. I approached one of the clinical Psychology faculty about an opportunity to work on research on the pathological and clinical effects of social media and its effects on the youth, which I intend to research.
I (JS) have had this experience before, first with my own undergraduate education, where I actually changed from being bio-premed to being bio-preneuroscience research under the influence of a mentor who became almost like an uncle to me. I have written about that before, and here I wanted only to share my experience on the other side of being that mentor. What I want to say is that there is surprising joy from doing it. True, I am in the final phase of a long academic career that started in 1978 as an assistant professor in the Psychology Department at Harvard University, spanned two other universities before ending up here and incorporated two nearly 20 year periods as a professor with a neuroscience research laboratory and as a senior academic administrator at the last three universities before happily returning to the faculty to meet and connect with good students. That brings us to SW’s summer, as she just finished her freshman year of college.
As I am writing this, it is the beginning of summer, and I (SW) am back at home with a regular job as a grocery store cashier. I started out when I was 15 after my seasonal job let up and I have been with the company since then. But like most people my age, my current job is not the one I want to have for the rest of my life. But this job has taught me something important, despite my personal differences. And that is it fuels my passion for the Psychology field, as I desire a career that is both meaningful and interesting.
Again, I (JS) had the same experience at that Freshman-Sophomore summer when I, too, had a regular, minimum-wage job. I can look back on it now and see the contrast when in my Junior-Senior summer I worked in a research laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania. It turned out (I did not know it at the time) that that laboratory would become my home when I went into their PhD program. That was a good experience because I learned that I really loved it, as opposed to the Freshman-Sophomore summer job, which was OK.
I (SW) agree, and I am looking forward to possibly entering a research laboratory in my sophomore year.. The conversations I have had with professors have shown me that I am hoping that getting started early is an advantage towards that possibility. I want to research because it is the only way we can discover new things and advance the world of psychology. I really want to be a part of that and make my mark in the field.
We two plan to come back in the fall and write about what happens as SW pursues her dream of working in a research laboratory.
