This presentation will highlight the role mentorship in the chemical sciences played in my career and education path. At the end of my sophomore year in high school student in 1997, my high school chemistry urged me to apply for a request for applications for the American Chemical Society (ACS) Project SEED Program at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), and I was awarded one of the two slots available. The ACS Project SEED Program was a chemistry research internship program held in the summer, designed for economically disadvantaged high school students. It provided opportunities for students who historically lack exposure to scientific careers to spend a summer conducting hands-on research with a scientist in academia, industry, and government research laboratories. For eight weeks that summer as a SEED student, I had a unique opportunity to work with Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, who served as my mentor and helped me not only with the laboratory skills needed to conduct scientific research, but written and oral skills also. Dr. Gross also provided me with guidance, encouragement, and letters of recommendation for college. As a matter of fact, the mentoring relationship I have with Dr. Gross remains today even though I have moved to others areas that I was interested. In this presentation, I will share how the research knowledge, skills, and abilities gained through great mentorship provided during my ACS Project SEED program experience in 1997 and 1998 shaped the Ph.D. candidate in Health Services Research at Walden University and research professional at Vanderbilt University Medical Center I am today.

POM (Power of Mentorship): The role mentorship in chemical sciences played in my life

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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