NRMN Newsletter – May 2018

Mentor of the Month:  Archana Gopalakrishnan

How did you get involved with NRMN?

Through the Society for Leukocyte Biology

Describe your role in mentoring and tell us a little about your experience in that role.

I have initiated contacts with potential mentees and am looking to make a connection with a mentee soon.  I have also made a few connections with other mentors in the program.

Have you participated in similar programs in the past?  If so, how was your experience with NRMN different or unique?

I have participated as a virtual mentor with the Junior Academy Program of NYAS which catered especially to K-12 students to work on solutions for global issues.  Students from around the globe virtually designed effective solutions.  NRMN differs as it is individual virtual mentoring.

If someone called you and asked, “Why should I become involved with NRMN,” how would you respond?

It is an effective, no cost, involved way of giving back to the society.  We all learn a lot of valuable lessons during our scientific career.  We do not need to have our own lab or become a teacher to pass on these valuable life lessons to students who are deciding the path of their career.  Joining NRMN allows us to be a guide virtually to any number of students in the best way we can.

How has your experience with NRMN changed the way you approach your career in the sciences?

To analyze every opportunity and try.  Sometimes we need to take a plunge and volunteer our time to try something new; this allows us to understand if that would be the right choice.

Describe a project or accomplishment that you consider to be the most significant in your career.

Coming to the conclusion of what I want to do in my career.  The rule of elimination helped me arrive to the conclusion that I would like to be involved in scientific and educational outreach.  Although this decision took a while, I tried my time in different aspects of a scientific career to decide finally what I would enjoy doing the most.

What makes you an ideal mentor?

I love mentoring.  It is an art to motivate children’s enthusiasm, to urge them to think beyond the box and to look at the results!  I am patient, do not judge, and am ready to offer the best guidance for any mentee.  I also go out of my way to set up connections for people that would help them in their career.

Each morning, what do you look most forward to in the day?

To the new things my toddler daughter has learned and will surprise me with!

Is there anything you’d like to share about yourself with a potential future mentee?

I always was a class topper through my school days and undergraduate career.  I focused so much on the grades that I forgot to learn a lot of important analytical skills in that early life.  Today, I wish I had not focused that much on grades and learned other skills.  Enjoy your life, especially the life outside academia as you learn a lot of valuable lessons from there.

What is your current position and what is your favorite aspect of it?

I am currently a postdoctoral fellow-researcher.  I love the day-to-day excitement of doing experiments.

Anything else that you would like to share?

I believe that in today’s competitive world, mental health is very important.  I urge mentees to always discuss their problems, troubles, achievements, no matter how big or small, with someone.  It helps to always have a fresh perspective on matters.

If you would like to be recognized as a MyMentor Mentor of the Month or would like to nominate someone to be recognized, please use the Contact Administrator link within MyMentor to send a message to Katie Stinson or use this link to submit a nomination:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1tRJwIzMGhaw6hihlcpmWWnGB2l5Ll7uSgn-NQcA6TG8/edit