Blog 25: Mentorship

Professor Mark B. Wise
wise@theory.caltech.edu

The most important skill I gained from my mentorship experience was confidence in my abilities. I have always felt overlooked when it comes to science and math, and I think that is partially a function of being a girl. Going into this project, I had no confidence in myself and assumed that everyone I talked to would think I was stupid or a waste of their time. I have had completely the opposite experience. Everyone I have met (particularly Professor Wise and Professor Polchinski) has been incredibly supportive, informative, and helpful. Without the encouragement I received from Professor Cheung and his postdoc, for instance, I highly doubt I would have felt confident enough to take my science project to the science fair or to present my findings to so many professionals. Without the experience I gained, I would never have found the guts to apply at the Griffith Observatory. I now feel much more comfortable taking risks in my thinking and pursuing and presenting new ideas. I know I have ideas that are worth listening to. If we want more women in science, I think girls need the encouragement I received to take risks and be confident in what they have to say. I know at I am good at physics, but I think I needed this experience to show me that I can step out of my comfort zone or think out of the box and come up with completely new ideas.

I met all of the people who have helped me answer my essential question through my mentor, Professor Wise. For example, he introduced me to Professor Sean Carroll who taught me about cloud chambers. This got me interested in methods of particle detection other than colliders and helped lead me to my third answer about dark matter. I could have found the answers to my essential question purely through research, but I would not have gotten the in-depth understanding of and perspective on the most pressing issues of physics that I received from Sean Carroll, Joe Polchinski, Clifford Cheung, and all of the others. By getting this, I was able to differentiate my answers and choose a best answer.

I plan on doing some more mentorship until the year is out.

Much thanks to Professor Wise for taking on a lowly high school student like myself.