i heart my undergrad mentor. it’s been years since i left undergrad lab for the great wide open of grad school, but i never forgot how important my undergrad experience was. particularly now that i’ve left grad lab for the great wide open of postdoc life, and am finding how important grad mentor’s influence has been on me, i’m fairly reflective on this.

since we hadn’t communicated since my defense, i sent an email off to undergrad mentor to catch up. even as the years pass, i still feel very supported by undergrad mentor. and of course, i received a very enthusiastic reply about my progress. what i didn’t expect was an invitation to come give a talk at small state u once i had the postdoc work up and running.

wow! that is a big deal to me. i had hoped that someday i could do this- i think that seeing someone who’s walked your footsteps at a little place like small state u come back and show the path they took after graduating, that makes a huge impact. and i hold very fond memories of my years at ssu, so any opportunity to go back is wonderful. it will be a little while before i’m in position to do this, but i am really excited.