Graduate student Jaime Castrellon was awarded a campus-wide mentoring award at Duke along with two other graduate students, Tess Leuthner (Integrated Toxicology and Environmental Health) and Karla Sosa (Biology).
The Duke Graduate School presents the Dean’s Awards for Excellence in Mentoring to “recognize the considerable efforts and accomplishments of faculty and graduate students who consistently serve as effective mentors. Designed to allow the university community to identify faculty and graduate students who embody both the letter and spirit of mentoring, these awards are important examples of the university’s continuing efforts to cultivate a culture of mentoring.” Jaime is the 5th student from the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience to win this award since they established the awards in 2004.
Jaime has been an outstanding mentor in the lab to several undergraduate students who have been highly successful presenting their own research at conferences, co-authoring papers, and going on to top jobs and graduate programs after graduating from Duke.
Excerpts from Castrellon’s nomination:
“He is committed to making sure that everyone he mentors develops confidence as a researcher and doesn’t just feel like a good helper.”
“At this early career stage, he has demonstrated not only a strong commitment to basic research but also a deep commitment to supporting fellow under-represented students and people at all levels.”
“Jaime's gentle, firm mentorship helped me feel secure in my ability to perform and provided ample room for my mistakes. Over our time together, he has helped to cultivate my understanding of neuroscience and the proper methods of research.”
Jaime’s thoughts on mentoring:
What do you think are the most important qualities of a good mentor?
Being a good mentor doesn’t happen overnight– it’s a learning process that requires a lot of adapting. What works for one mentee might not work for another. This means that it’s important to welcome and invite all kinds of feedback or criticism from mentees so that you can grow to provide the best support for any mentee.
How do graduate students benefit from serving as mentors?
Often, some of the best ideas in science can emerge through mentorship. In particular, mentees offer unique perspectives that can advance a research project’s goals in ways that aren’t always immediately clear to graduate students. This could include strengthening theories or testing alternative hypotheses. Embracing mentees perspectives and ideas benefits everyone involved in the research process.
What does a successful mentoring relationship look like? How do you build such a relationship?
It might seem counterintuitive, but a successful mentoring relationship isn’t always one-way from mentor to mentee, instead it can be collaborative and bidirectional. This kind of relationship is built on trust and guiding mentees toward independent decision making. Empowering mentees to make important project decisions builds their confidence and strengthens their ability to work collaboratively and serve as mentor for others.
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