指导很重要

1985年我在戴维森学院读大一的时候, 我是学化学的, 打算从医. 在我大学的第一年，我似乎每天下午都在实验室里度过. 一个下午, 我开始用本生灯加热东西，然后走到窗前向外看. I had this tendency to daydream - to make up stories about the people I observed -- and I forgot I was in a chemistry lab at all until whatever I was heating exploded and the lab assistant came running.

幸运的是，我有一个朋友. 那个学期我还选修了英语写作, 我讨厌上这门课，因为我认为自己已经是一个足够强大的作家了. 我的教授，博士. 伊丽莎白·米尔斯，不放过我. 我提交给她的第一篇论文, 她给了我一个C, 当我去她办公室跟她说, “我不写C级作文,她回答说, “这次你做到了." Then she proceeded to show me my patterns: a tendency to begin sentences with prepositional phrases, 以及对弱动词的偏好. 我发誓要改进，给她留下好印象. 我发誓要把我的C变成A，她给了我这个机会.

所以当我的化学实验爆炸，火警响起的时候, 我意识到我不适合学化学, 毕竟, Dr. 米尔斯也在场. 她说:“过来吧. 你很擅长这个.“四年里，我跟着她上了四门课, 不只是学习作文, 也是英语语言的历史, 女性作家, 在艾米莉·狄金森的研讨会上，她教我如何成为一名文学侦探. 她还把我介绍给后来成为文学导师的作家:弗兰纳里·奥康纳(Flannery O’connor), 托妮·莫里森, 玛格丽特·阿特伍德, 和更多的. Dr. 米尔斯把审讯和鼓励结合得恰到好处.

她的支持也没有随着毕业而结束. 她读过我出版的每一本小说，包括明年三月出版的那本. 她为我读书已经三十多年了. 30年前，我们不会用“师徒关系”这样的词. 我都不知道我还有导师. 我有个导游, 虽然, and a tremendous friend who helped me see possibilities in myself that I didn't yet know how to manifest. 她看见了我. 她大声叫我.

There have been numerous occasions where I have had someone guide me in making the decisions I needed to make. 在个人层面上, 这可能是我第一次在专业水平上购买汽车, 有助于研究, 找工作和/或选择工作. 即使现在是副院长, 我指望某些人不会粉饰他们的建议，而是如实说出他们所看到的.

I have found help from mentors on many occasions when I have moved into unfamiliar surroundings and new situations, 以及在熟悉的环境中，我需要别人的意见. 对我来说，导师是我尊敬并信任的人，他们会给我诚实的意见. 从我来美国攻读博士学位开始.D. 在市场营销方面，我在完成博士学位的过程中有多位导师.D.找一份工作，然后换一份新工作. 读研究生, my friend Anil Rode helped and mentored me by introducing me to the nuances of living in the United States including educating me about American sports including baseball, 篮球, 和足球, 在我生病的时候帮我找医生, 并在需要时提供情感支持. 他总是关心我的职业状况, 不断询问我的研究和教学情况, 在我找工作的过程中给我提供了宝贵的面试建议. 以他的计算机科学背景和MBA学位, I found discussions with him to be enlightening as he educated me on the corporate view of things, 因为我在美国没有工作经验. Here was a person I looked up to, listened to, and trusted; definitely, a mentor!

用我自己的经历和那些帮助过我的人, 我是导师的坚定信徒, 只要有可能，尽量成为学生和教师的导师. 从我的经历中汲取灵感, I have initiated a mentorship program within my college and have received positive feedback about it.

有人能给你提供专业建议是很重要的, 第一次阅读, 第二种意见, 鼓励, 现实检查, 书的建议, 酒杯和蛋糕来庆祝, 倾听的耳朵, 也是朝着正确方向的一小步. 我的一些最好的老师是这样的，甚至更多, and they've been there at every formative stage— From the diminutive third-grade teacher with the indomitable-sounding name of Sifora Fang (she plied me with so many books for "extra reading!并把最难的拼写问题给了我的大学文学教授 德尔Tolentino (他是我开始教书那年的第一批同事之一, 还有那个告诉我我的诗“准备好了”——可以出版的人, that is; it may not sound like a lot but this felt like a big deal to me). 另一位令人难忘的大学教授查丽·卢塞罗(Chari Lucero)以尖刻的评论而闻名. We met again at a conference years after I'd graduated; I had three young children by then, 还有一段不太好的婚姻. 她热情地拥抱我说:“你好!!! 我听说你的生活不是那么精致，但你的写作是.“我知道我得到了笑声，我想我从中得到了一些启示.

当我去马尼拉雅典耀大学攻读文学硕士学位时, 我上过已故的多琳·G的课. 费尔南德斯是菲律宾著名的文化历史学家和美食评论家之一. I quickly understood why she made an indelible impression on generations of students who had received her mentorship: for her, 教室里, 对学术的严格要求, 文学编辑, 和生产, 应该总是从我们与地方和社区的特定联系中产生吗. 与其他同事, she was one of the first to volunteer to make and bring food to civilian protesters and soldiers alike during the 1986 "People Power Revolution" against the Marcos dictatorship. 她的慷慨和善良是传奇——谁知道有多少学生, 包括我自己, 在她家里找到了临时住所, coming and going in Manila; or were the recipients of meals and books and long hours of life conversation?

卡洛斯·安吉利斯(Carlos Angeles)的著作《网站登录》(马尼拉:阿尔贝托·S. 弗洛伦蒂诺, 1963), 获得卡洛斯·帕兰卡奖和共和国文化遗产文学奖, 是一位我从大学起就读过并崇拜的菲律宾诗人. 在芝加哥，当我攻读博士学位的时候.D. 在UIC, 多琳(当时她还活着)通过电子邮件把我介绍给卡洛斯, and this led to an almost daily correspondence between 1993 and 6 or so years later when he died. 我去洛杉矶卡森城(他当时住在那里)看望过他几次. 他虽然姗姗来迟，但却渴望进入互联网, and every email I received from him would invariably begin with the question "What have you written today?"

正在写我的创造性论文(带有批评性序言的诗歌手稿), 我很幸运能请到已故的伟人 小拉尔夫·米尔斯. 作为我的顾问，就在他退休之前. I liked how he conveyed without fanfare that it was possible to be both a practicing poet and someone devoted to family. 我将永远感激你, 经过我的论文答辩，对我一无所知, he'd sent his own publisher a copy of my manuscript to discreetly inquire if they might have some kind of interest in such a thing. When they actually called me a few months down the road with a publication offer, I was dumbfounded. 这促成了我在美国的第一本长篇出版物, 《bet8九州登录入口》(莫耶·贝尔/阿斯菲尔德).

在我的生活中有这样的导师对我自己的教学产生了深远的影响. 像他们一样, 我希望我能帮助打开大门, 听深度, and make some kind of difference; each student teaches us all so much.

我喜欢学习，我很幸运在ODU有很多伟大的导师. As I first started at ODU on the tenure track I was very conscious that I would need to meet expectations to gain tenure at the university. 我希望能在正确的轨道上获得终身教职, 我有很多问题, 然而, 我的朋友和家人都很支持我，但无法回答我的许多问题. 我很幸运地听说了ODU妇女党团会议，我立即加入了这个组织. 这是一群帮助女性在大学和学术界找到方向的女性. 他们做了相关的演讲, 还有社会事件, and they also have a mentorship program which I was able to get a mentor who was very supportive and able to answer my many questions. 我还从妇女核心小组的其他人那里得到了指导. 莫娜·丹纳是我的导师，也是我努力效仿的对象. I cannot speak highly enough of Mona and what one individual person as a mentor can do to support and inspire you. 我非常感谢妇女党团会议和莫娜.

Another place I gained mentorship was from a group called Team Tenure in the College of Education and 专业的研究. 这是我刚到ODU时成立的一个小组. 2013年，我开始在学院工作，当时有大约12名新的终身教职员工. I quickly realized that I had lots of questions and that the other new people also had similar questions. 一方面，获得支持是一个自私的动机，但同时, 我觉得只要我们互相支持就能成功. 我们工作的前提是我们没有竞争关系，我们可以一起达到目标. 我们每个月与客座演讲者共进午餐，以帮助回答我们的许多问题. This a very supportive group and people from across the college would offer to speak and even offer copies of the tenure materials they submitted. This peer mentorship model worked really well and I would like to thank all those who attended and spoke at Team Tenure as it was mentorship like this and the 女性's Caucus (big shout out to Mona Danner) that I gained tenure this year.

——海伦·克朗普顿博士.D.

副教授
教学与学习，达顿教育学院 & 专业的研究

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导师激励和帮助. 我最伟大的导师是我的哥哥. C. 斯蒂芬·芬利. 因为他比我大七岁，所以他对我的影响很大. 例如，他教我怎么系鞋带，怎么扔篮子，最重要的是，教我写字. Since he was a graduate student when I went to college and a college professor with tenure when I started my tenure-track job, 对于如何成功，他总是有很好的建议, 作为我唯一的兄弟姐妹, 他自然希望他妹妹成功. 回顾, I know my brother's influence was profound; 然而, I also know there were many other people along the way who helped me achieve tenure and develop a successful career. 在教学中，我的本科历史导师让学生们在课堂上如痴如醉. 在研究, I met people at international conferences who read my work and helped me secure my first book contract with Cambridge University Press. 在bet8体育娱乐入口, 我和许多院长和副院长一起工作，他们在专业问题上指导我, 一路走来, I made many friends both inside and outside bet8体育娱乐入口 who helped me weather the stresses of my many complex roles. 其中一些朋友也成了我的人生导师. 关键是我需要很多导师来帮助我成为一名成功的教师学者, 管理员, 甚至作为一个女人. 像这样, 在考虑师徒关系时, I encourage faculty to realize that we all need multiple mentors to help us navigate the complexities of our professional and personal lives.