Personal Narrative: My Mentor Nina L. Lanza
The person who embodies all the aspects of a great mentor, look no further my nomination is my mentor Nina L. Lanza. She is not an ordinary mentor, but an extraordinary one. My mentor designed a project specifically for me, showed me I was a priority, and gave me an opportunities to help shape my future in my image.
Too many students are brought to LANL with the only goal that the students should make their mentors’ life and work easier. They are given predesigned generic projects, or simple tasks that were chosen long before the got here. Nina, my mentor at my college, and I designed a project for me when I was at college. I was able to continue that project at LANL. Then Nina designed a ChemCam project specifically for me when I’m at LANL.
This project played on my specific strengths, caught my interest, and will give me the ability to present it at a conference in March. She also designed that project to allow me to go where the data took me. So many projects fall apart when one thing doesn’t go as plan. She was able to adapt and guide me when something did not go as planned. Nina also wanted me to know that this project is mine, and I would be first author when it came to presenting and publishing. She did not bring me here to for selfish reasons like helping her career. She brought me here to get a head start on my career.
She didn’t micromanage, but gave an acceptable amount of space. Her office door was always open, in case I needed to ask a question or needed guidance. She did have other projects going on, I still felt like I was the priority. She was able to drop what she’s doing an answer my question even if it took an hour or two. She had interviews, meetings, and grant proposals deadlines, and yet it seemed like she was always accessible. The hours she was not available she would inform me, and told me who to contact in case I had problems. She always made sure I was able to do my work effectively and efficiently. Her main goals for my summer to gain as much experience as possible. One of her first emails was to make sure I would be able to attend the student symposium. She wanted me to gain experience writing abstracts, making posters, and public speaking. Nina also emailed me about an opportunity to visit the Trinity Test Site, before I was at LANL so I would not miss this opportunity. She also had a schedule visit to University of New Mexico the second I week I was here, so I could see the campus, meet future potential advisors, and use the scanning electron microscope on samples for my project. She volunteered to help me apply for graduate schools in a year. We have plans for me to present at a conference in a planetary conference in March so I can meet people in the field.
Too many students are brought to LANL with the only goal that the students should make their mentors’ life and work easier. They are given predesigned generic projects, or simple tasks that were chosen long before the got here. Nina, my mentor at my college, and I designed a project for me when I was at college. I was able to continue that project at LANL. Then Nina designed a ChemCam project specifically for me when I’m at LANL.
This project played on my specific strengths, caught my interest, and will give me the ability to present it at a conference in March. She also designed that project to allow me to go where the data took me. So many projects fall apart when one thing doesn’t go as plan. She was able to adapt and guide me when something did not go as planned. Nina also wanted me to know that this project is mine, and I would be first author when it came to presenting and publishing. She did not bring me here to for selfish reasons like helping her career. She brought me here to get a head start on my career.
She didn’t micromanage, but gave an acceptable amount of space. Her office door was always open, in case I needed to ask a question or needed guidance. She did have other projects going on, I still felt like I was the priority. She was able to drop what she’s doing an answer my question even if it took an hour or two. She had interviews, meetings, and grant proposals deadlines, and yet it seemed like she was always accessible. The hours she was not available she would inform me, and told me who to contact in case I had problems. She always made sure I was able to do my work effectively and efficiently. Her main goals for my summer to gain as much experience as possible. One of her first emails was to make sure I would be able to attend the student symposium. She wanted me to gain experience writing abstracts, making posters, and public speaking. Nina also emailed me about an opportunity to visit the Trinity Test Site, before I was at LANL so I would not miss this opportunity. She also had a schedule visit to University of New Mexico the second I week I was here, so I could see the campus, meet future potential advisors, and use the scanning electron microscope on samples for my project. She volunteered to help me apply for graduate schools in a year. We have plans for me to present at a conference in a planetary conference in March so I can meet people in the field.