Mentorship is an invaluable experience that can provide support in many ways when you’re traversing this journey as a student.

Mentors can include professionals at different stages in their careers such as: faculty, staff, graduate students and even other undergraduates. Having a mentor during your time as a student can help hone your passions for the future endeavors you choose.

How do you find a mentor?

Finding a mentor can be an intimidating task, reaching out to individuals can come with rejection which can get exhausting. One way to avoid this is to go through an already established mentorship program such as the University Multicultural Mentor Program. (https://multicultural.ufl.edu/programs/ummp/) However, if you want to find a mentor that aligns with your specific interests, reaching out to professors or finding faculty members whose research matches your academic goals can be more fruitful.

When emailing a potential mentor make sure to do some background research on their work to ensure it aligns with your own passions. While drafting the email, sound formal and try to start a conversation about your interest in their work. End the email by requesting to set up a meeting either in person or virtually. Don’t forget to follow up after a week if there is no response. If there is no response after two weeks, move on to another individual with interests like yours. Although not getting a response can be disappointing, it’s okay. Many professors are very busy and often have emails that are lost in their inbox or simply don’t have time to be an effective mentor.

How to ensure you get the most out of your mentorship experience

Spend time with your mentor by setting up regular meetings. Articulate your goals and objectives to see how your mentorship experience can be the most beneficial to you. Come to meetings prepared, review your notes from previous meetings, and bring topics to discuss to ensure mentorship is a reciprocal relationship. Mentors can last a lifetime, so keep a clear line of communication as you progress in your academic career. You never know where a connection can get you!

My experience finding mentors.

Throughout my journey as a student at UF I have found many mentors who have helped me become the researcher and communicator I am today. As I switched my major and added a minor to better suit my interests, I often needed guidance and advice on how to be successful. I first found my mentor to suit my interests within sociology when I was a freshman. He was a graduate TA for my principles of sociology class and his research on the construction of race and identity piqued my interest. I approached him after class one day and started a conversation about his research. As time went on in the semester and I was reassured that this would be a vital relationship for me in my academic career I asked him if he knew of any opportunities where I could get involved in sociological research.

Through this connection, I was able to work for the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program where I was able to conduct and transcribe interviews. However, as time went on, I soon realized that although sociology was something I was passionate about, it wasn’t something I wanted to make a career of. I was always interested in the environment, but specifically how organisms respond to their changing environment.

After looking through the website for undergraduate research (I found a graduate student who conducted research that suited my interests on the interactions between agricultural management and ecology. I reached out through email to set up a meeting to further discuss her project and to see if there was a potential volunteering opportunity. After a few weeks volunteering I asked if I could do research for credit focusing on a singular aspect of her project. As I continued to build that relationship, I was able to gain other opportunities such as doing an independent project under the scope of my mentor’s research for the University Scholars’ program and crafting my own project within the lab as well.

Best of luck as you search for a mentor, and don’t be discouraged if it takes a while to find the right person. If you need some inspiration for that first email, check out the template I created below.

Sample email template:

Hi ______________!

My name is __________ (name and pronouns) and I am an undergraduate student at the University of Florida studying ________________. I am a student in your ______________ course (if you are not currently taking a course/have previously taken a course with this potential mentor, then state your connection to them/how you found them). As I learned more about your research, I found myself really interested in learning more about ______ (be specific about what parts of their research interest you!).

I am reaching out to inquire about the potential of receiving mentorship from you in the areas of __________________ (field of study/area of needed mentorship). This mentorship would benefit me by allowing me to ____________________.

If this is something you would be willing and able to do, please let me know and I would be more than happy to further explore the details of this possibility with you.

Many thanks and talk soon,

________________

About the Author:

Aadil Rahman is an undergraduate student at the University of Florida pursuing a Bachelor of Science in zoology with a minor in sociology. In his career, Aadil hopes to combine his knowledge of zoology and sociology to advocate for environmental justice issues as well as to bridge the gap in science communication.