Freshman year I was paired with a woman who was a veterinarian and living in NYC, which would have been perfect if I'd still wanted to be a vet, but already by second semester I knew I wanted to switch out. First, after I finished my yearlong internship with a clinic on the Upper East Side, I had no desire left to work with retarded, inbred, overly pampered creatures, each with its own 20 page list of genetic defects. Second, I love biology and I love working with animals, but if I didn't become a vet I would have to go into research, and I really don't have the temperament for research.
As the years rolled on, my mentor and I didn't really correspond at all and I still have not met her. I know she is Latina and has a young son who speaks Spanish and some Cantonese and that her husband is Chinese, but that's about it. In freshman year she told me she worked very flexible shifts at an animal hospital in the ER (I think), but I have no idea if she still does that.
In any case, I'd gotten annoyed with all the CASMP emails I was getting and decided to request that I be removed from the mailing list and unmatched from my mentor. It was getting me nowhere.
When I requested the removal, I got an email from the CASMP staff saying that they were sorry to see me go, wouldn't I please tell them why, and don't forget to send an email of thanks to my mentor. I did all of this, the second in great detail, and got another email in response asking me to elaborate on what I meant because it would be helpful.
I obliged.
The following is a copy of the email I sent. I'm posting it up here because as I wrote it, it helped me develop my ideas to an extent that I hadn't really considered before. Why did I quit? Why didn't the program benefit me? How could they have improved the matching system? I focused on the last question because I think that was the most important step. It is the first step in the program and determines quite a bit about your mentor-mentee relationship.
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Hi Candace,
Thanks for your email. What I meant by interests was more in reference to a student's wider goals, extra curricular activities, and other hobbies.
I believe that in the long run, it is the development of a student's interests and not necessarily their major that will benefit them the most in life. It is likely any prefrosh will change their major a number of times, so only having a matching system based on what major the student chooses so early in his or her career is perhaps not the most helpful way of matching a student with an alumnus.
What I would suggest is for the student to explain a little bit about him or herself first and whether or not they could see themselves in a career that deals with this subject. For example, I have always loved animals and am extremely interested in the green movement and sustainable development. Although I applied directly into the animal science program and planned on becoming a vet, I did not stay with it. Instead, I switched to a different major (Biology and Society, AEM minor) but which was still related to my life interests.
In the event that a student decides to switch majors, even if the shift is not a radical one, I feel the most value can be gained by a pairing in which both individuals have something else in common aside from their majors. Even for students who are sure they want to stay in a certain field or major, a mentor who is not necessarily in the same field but shares the same passions, experiences, or interests would still be beneficial. At Cornell we are constantly exposed to people in our degree program, with willing professors to ask for help and cheery career counselors to read over our cover letters.
Of course networking is important as well, and I can understand that having a mentor in your degree program is extremely handy, but as I stated before, if a student changes their major, having a mentor with the same passions and goals will mean that chances are whatever contacts this mentor has will still be helpful.
I'm sorry for writing such a long email, haha. I hope it's helpful to some extent and that the program can continue to develop.
Best,
Audrey
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After writing this email, I think that's when I really realized how important it is to stop worrying about what major you're in or what you're getting your degree in. What matters is that you are able to develop your interests and (please forgive the cliche) expand your horizons to the extent that you know what makes you happy and that you are able to find people to share this interest with and help you turn it into a career (if that is what you want to begin with).
I think I may have taken a bit too much liberty in the email and turned it into a rambling sort of "here are my thoughts...oh look this is an interesting idea I would like to explore..." but the CASMP administrator, Candace, seemed appreciative anyway. Apparently the program is supposed to encourage the mentor and mentee pair to foster a deep enough relationship so that even if the student changes majors, they still have other things to talk about and bond over. Unfortunately, they do matching by major because most students were not interested in this broader view and (she used the term "shortsighted") only saw it as a means to network within this major.
What it comes down to is knowing what makes you happy. Doing this is what makes me happy: traveling, learning, living, and writing. This is why I believe it is important to meet as many people as possible, go to as many places are your feet (and wallet) will take you, and network as far as others will support you. It'll all pay off.
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