Katherine Michelle Benavidez (Environmental Science and Policy '14) Photographed on the left
"Throughout this semester, I have had the pleasure of meeting with my University of Texas IE mentor, Gail Gutowski (right). Together, we discussed my future goals and monitored my progression of applying to graduate school. While at the beginning of the program I was apprehensive about what type of mentor I would get paired with, I consider myself lucky I was able to meet Gail and am extremely grateful for the advice and guidance she has provided. Gail was patient and supportive. Overall, I have had a wonderful experience with the Intellectual Entrepreneurship Mentorship Program.
Before our first meeting, I was very concerned about our pairing. Our majors are not exactly aligned, and our research interests didn't seem entirely lined up. However, this concern transformed into respect and admiration after our first meeting. Gail was extremely interested in what I was researching, and I was intrigued by her academic progression. She eagerly reviewed my CV and gave great suggestions to improve it. Shortly after, I got sick and was unable to make regular meetings with her. However, she reliably checked in on me until we were ready to meet again. During our next meetings, we discussed how my graduate school program searches were going, and she always had something to contribute. For example, when I was having trouble finding a potential research director at Dartmouth, she sent me a great option within a day.
I am extremely grateful for the time and advice Gail shared and I expect this experience will have a positive impact on my upcoming graduate school deadlines. She always offered good advice and had a great attitude, and I will always appreciate my time with her. Even though our research interests were not an exact match, Gail was able to use her experience with graduate school to guide me through the past months."