Lauren May
"My IE mentor Noel Radley was an immense help in preparing me for graduate school. Most of our talks involved the basic graduate school experience and the day-to-day things needed to be successful. Noel invited me to UT to see a typical day. She is in the final stage of her dissertation work and no longer takes courses but is still active on campus. I sat in a planning meeting for the blog she writes which explores different forms of rhetoric. We met with Noel's department head who is also a member of her committee and reviewed her dissertation timeline. I had not given much thought to how one goes about working on a dissertation but the idea of having a year or more to just work on one project was somewhat intimidating. I shared with Noel that I was a bit nervous about going to graduate school, but thanks to my experience in the mentorship program I am feeling much more confident."