It's all about the students

Abstract

The best moments of an instructor’s day are the times in class when everything clicks, students are sharing and are excited to be in class learning. The best time in a research mentor’s day is when a student gets a concept or designs an interesting experiment ‐ or better yet, when a student who has struggled generates exciting data and realizes they now know something that no one else in the world knows. The best time in an advisor’s day is helping a struggling student work past their fears and achieve more than they thought they could. How do we faculty get to that point where it is all about the students? Taking a scholarly approach to teaching and learning how to be a good mentor is just as important as the background research we do to write a grant and run a research laboratory. We get to be about the students by being part of larger communities like ASBMB, PKAL, CUR, daring to learn new pedagogies, studying the teaching literature – learning to be as competent in front of the students as we are with a pipette. Then when possible, we give back by creating new opportunities and mentoring other faculty. Working with the students and participating in the poster competition where it is as much a social connection as it is helping the students with their research. The community of faculty sharing our secrets, helping each other be better teachers, researchers and mentors, is what gives all of us the strength to be there for the students. I am honored for this award and hope to share some of how I’ve grown with the support of our faculty community and have given back to others – because it’s all about the students.