thoughts on mentoring younger ones...

I mentioned some of this before. First I got asked in the spring to be a mentor "from the industry perspective to undergraduates and graduates" (and as it turned out to be even post-docs), secondly I got invited to give a career talk at a high school in the rural south... I won't say I wasn't flattered, I was, even if it was a rural high school "who had never had a female PhD in Biology to talk for the seniors", which was one of the main reasons they wanted to bring me in. I am still flattered that people think I can give advice, answer questions and be a (some sort of anyway) role model... And I like it, don't get me wrong, since I often have easier times connecting with younger people than for me to network with older peers (sadly, since I would most likely benefit myself from being better at that aspect).

I went to the high school and had a great time. Good questions about "what did you take as an under-graduate student", "what made you go for a PhD", "what kind of career options do you have right now" and other questions along those lines. And of course, in my opinion one of the more funny questions "have you actually worked with HeLa cells?" and when answering "yes" getting a gasp and awe from the audience. Yes, that hasn't really been one of the more common responses... (they had read a book about immortal cell lines, not the book I thought about "Henrietta Lacks" but another one.) We did avoid talking about the ethical issues about that specific cell-line, and focused a bit more on the "bang for your buck" - or what one would call it talking about getting a degree and paying off your student loans in the long run... "Why choosing the major like you did and not?!"

I did admit, more than once I'm afraid, that when I chose my undergraduate subject and my masters, I didn't really consider my student loan vs my future salary. I went more with what I liked at the moment and thought I wanted to learn about, trying to fit it all together. I did mention my "on the side studies" in philosophy, political science and some other "not fitting with science major" subject since to me those have been very valuable in my decision of choosing not to pursue those subject. Albeit, I didn't do that on my "main" student loan but rather on my extra curriculum (taking about 125% classes for a few years - I was/am a sort of over-achiever). And when it comes to my PhD and my projected future salary vs student loan; I didn't think about that too much either. I went with "at the time it was a subject I loved, I thought I was doing good at, and I wanted to work with it (microbes) in my future. I wanted a PhD to show that I could tie several years of research together in a thesis and finish it". Yeah, I might not have been the poster girl for "thinking ahead what kind of job I wanted" and choosing my PhD.... especially not in these times. (Granted, when I started my PhD I thought I'd be on the TT right now, alas that changed somewhere in the beginning of my post-doc years.)

That was something I mentioned at both talks though, maybe more at the conference in spring since that was a lot of master students thinking about going for a PhD "since they wanted to work in industry" - and I said "I don't think that is necessarily a straight line between industry work and success and a PhD". And most especially not now, in the midst of hard times getting a job after a PhD. I'd be the first to admit though, not qualms about it, that my opinion might be very coloured from the fact that about half of my graduate friends don't have a permanent job even after 5 years after our graduation. And that not half of the ones without a permanent job (or whatever to call it) is within Academia with grants and fellowship etc. No, about half of my former graduate colleagues are in limbo. In between "maternity fill-ins" (something that happens back home - equivalent of 10-12 months of temporary work) or temporary positions at consulting business... and the other half are divided between 2 years fellowships (maybe prolonged due to publications or similarities) or a permanent governmental/industry positions.

All in all, it leaves me with a bit of hesitancy saying much about the future. Granted though, the high school students seemed almost to have a better grasp of the fickleness of getting a job in the future than the master students or the post-docs. That in itself might have been what made me the most curious. The amount of times I heard from people who had spent the last 4 years pursuing a graduate degree (being a masters or a PhD) telling me how much industry wanted the PhD and that was their only way in there... Not to mention the whole "but I've worked so hard and have good grades and surely someone would hire me because of that". And the high school students asking right out "which is the way to go to get a job after college?" with less of an asking about the degree required but overall help to choose majors to go on with "succeeding".

How to say something about "it's not all about what you do and know, but rather who you know and coincidence and hard work networking, that will get you where you want to be"? Yeah, I might sound bitter saying that, but truth to be told - I don't really think the whole "working hard will pay off since you are clearly good at what you do" will be enough anymore (if it every was?)

It was though, a very valuable time for me since as always, it is eyeopening for me to see me with the eyes of other people. And that the things I've encountered and lived through, even if I consider myself to be quite on the younger side of life, have shaped me more than I would like to admit and like. Not to mention that those experiences can help other people, if nothing else; I still firmly believe in the statement that you should choose whichever subject as an undergraduate that you find attractive and think you'd like to work with in the future. Not necessarily have a full grown plan (as I had at a time) since you never know what you might meet in the future, or what kind of opportunities open us, but go for what you feel passionate about while trying to keep some other venues open (like having an other subject as second - chemistry/poli sci/etc) in case you realise a few years down the line that you aren't as passionate about the main subject as you thought....

Though, of course, I'm trying to find a way to incorporate my love for microbes into something that can be viable for my future.... and I do still think that the main course of choosing makes more sense (to me) is "I'd rather regret the things I tried than never try it at all since I think I'll be more likely to regret the things I never gave a chance...".