Love of Solving Problems Bonds Mentor with Protégés
The following essay by Adrianne Borgia is one of the many terrific entries we received in the
second annual MentorNet essay contest.
The Common Thread
My first protégé and I could not have been more different. I was, at that time, a 52-year-old
Caucasian woman with a daughter about the same age as Louise. Louise was 20 years old, Chinese
and having doubts about her choice of major. Louise was the more assertive about meeting in
person and, since we lived about three miles apart, we arranged to meet one Saturday afternoon
and have lunch. We spent so much time talking I got a parking ticket! Since that day almost
four years ago I have learned a lot about Louise's background. I have met her brother and
some of her friends, and she's been a guest in my house many times. I went to her graduation
party and she's come to see my new granddaughter. In short, despite our different backgrounds
and ages, we have become good friends.
Now that Louise is out of school our friendship continues, but my role as a mentor has changed.
She is feeling the void of not being in school and I sympathize, having felt the same lack of
direction immediately after college. She tells me, excitedly, about her interviews and job
possibilities.
Human and Professional Connections
I thought there could never be a better match than Louise, but last year I was matched with
Devani, a graduate student from Sri Lanka. Again, our backgrounds were like night and day,
but there was a human as well as a professional connection. She had just sent me an e-mail
in December telling me about her new job when the tsunami hit and Sri Lanka suffered much loss.
I e-mailed her to see if her family was all right but there was no response. Finally, I searched
the Internet for the company that she had just started with and was able to leave a message on
her voicemail. She finally got back to me to say her family was safe. Since then we have
discussed her new job as a construction estimator and the difficulties of being taken seriously
in that relatively all-male enclave. I sent her links to my favorite engineering estimating
websites.
Sharing the Challenges of Engineering
I believe that despite our diversity Louise and Devani and I have a common bond that joins us:
a love of solving problems that somehow led us to the field of engineering. We managed to get
through the academic curriculum despite the lack of encouragement from our families and friends
and sometimes feeling so "unusual."
Outwardly, we are as different as three humans can be. But inwardly we sense the same awareness
of inequalities, have suffered poor advice (from professors and supervisors), and contend with
emotions of either the classroom or the office. Sometimes I see my younger self in what they
say and do. I am a peer with a little more experience in my résumé. What becomes of Louise
and Devani is of greater interest to me because of my mentorship. I want them both to succeed
and feel positive that they will.