January 29, 2018 | UHCL Staff
This year, the Common Reader Program at University of Houston-Clear Lake includes a real-life application of an element that comes directly from the assigned book, “Hidden Figures.” The book, which was made into an Oscar-nominated film in 2016, is the true story of a team of female African-American mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program. The plot focuses on themes such as race, the role of women in science and technology fields – and mentorship.
“Mentorship is one of the overarching themes in the book,” said Wanalee Romero, lecturer of Humanities and Director of the First-year Seminar Program. Students interested in entering a mentorship with a professor or other professional member of the community were paired up after a Mentor Mingle last October and met up at a Mentorship Meet and Greet event on Jan. 18.
Nineteen students have been paired with mentors and will be working together for the remainder of the semester.
“We hope this will be particularly successful for students, who, like the women in the book, are minorities in their field and ultimately were able to excel in part because of the support they received from mentors.”
Kathleen Garland, lecturer in environmental management in UH-Clear Lake’s College of Business, has always maintained mentoring relationships with her graduate students. She welcomes the opportunity the Common Reader Program has presented to work with an undergraduate student. “Undergraduates are so busy. Many of them work and don’t have time, but the nice thing with this program is that the students who have signed up to be mentored do have the time for it,” she said.
Garland had already met her mentee, junior Emily Frith. “I am very happy to be her mentor. I get a nice young friend, which I think is great,” she said.
“We plan to meet every two weeks for coffee. Because she’s an environmental management major, I am looking forward to having her join me on workshops. I occasionally do consulting for a certain nonprofit. I would like Emily to see the work I do, and find out exactly how environmental managers are involved in community issues.”
Garland says it’s important to help students feel comfortable with their career direction and let them know it’s all right to change it if it turns out not to be what they want. “I am on my fifth career,” she said. “One of the things I’d like to talk to Emily about is that she should think about a Plan B.
“Students often picture how things are going to work out and then it doesn’t. That’s actually the norm,” Garland said. “This is something my mentees have gotten anxious about, and it’s important to remember that nothing works out perfectly and staying with one career your entire life can actually be kind of boring.”
Frith said she asked Garland many questions about her career path. “There is a lot I’d like to know about environmental management, and I didn’t have anyone else to ask, so I was glad to have her,” she said. “I’m glad to be her mentee. She’s helping me overcome some of my doubts about my career path and helping me gain the confidence to pursue it.”
Frith said that through Garland’s support, she will have connections to events and organizations that she’d have no idea about otherwise. “I’m trying to get out of my shell a bit,” Frith said. “Having Dr. Garland behind me helps me get out there and do more.”
She plans to join Green Hawks, an on-campus environmental organization, and become more engaged on campus. “I would have eventually done these things, but to have her suggest that I do them has made me get involved more quickly. I feel like she’s an engine behind me that keeps me moving,” Frith said.
As a first-generation college student, Frith said her interactions with her mentor have helped her feel optimistic and excited about her future. “Dr. Garland explains all my options to me,” she said. “I know I will have a good future in environmental management.”
For more information about the Common Reader Series, visit www.uhcl.edu/academics/first-year-seminar/common-reader.
