Communication Studies Doctoral Student Kerk Kee
As
an IE Pre-Grad mentor, I work with undergraduate mentees in co-creating
instructional and research experiences to advance their career developments.
Undergraduate mentees co-designed quizzes, operate Blackboard, facilitate
in-class activities, co-author a conference paper,
and meet with me to discuss teaching and research on a weekly basis.
Mentees learn about what goes on behind the scene before an instructor
steps in front of a class and teach. They also learn how a research
conference paper looks like and why conferences are important in the
research communities. On the other hand, I learn as much from my mentees
as they do from me. I enjoy working with students with positive
enthusiasm, great questions, and passionate goals.
What I appreciate the most about the IE Pre-Grad Internship is the opportunity to "role play" an advisor. My career goal is to become a professor and mentor students. However, I have only been a student myself and have never been in a position to mentor students like my (thesis and doctoral) advisors do. I never realized how much (unnoticed and unpaid) time and energy my advisors have invested in me as a student until I have done the same for my undergraduate mentees. This experience teaches me what it takes to be a professor and how my future career is going to be. This is as much an internship for me as it is for my mentees. I thoroughly enjoy this experience.
