During junior year, Dr. Lehman became my new LIFE STEM mentor.
In the summer of 2019, I was in my research lab for PRISM when I heard the news that Dr. Donnelly was not returning to Longwood. As soon as I found out, I immediately starting bawling. I was losing one of the best mentors I had during my time at Longwood, and I feared the thought of losing our fun meetings with coffee. While these meetings were only an hour out of my week, they always made my weeks better. She did such an amazing job listening to me and making my transition into college so much easier. I fortunately got to say goodbye, and she gifted me the mug that I always drank out of during our meetings. If there was a LIFE STEM Mentor Award, she would win, hands down.
For a while, I didn’t know who would be my next mentor. Fortunately, I was “adopted” by Dr. Lehman. I have made the best of the situation by keeping an open mind, and Dr. Lehman has done a great job being a mentor. She always is a good listener and I know she cares. She even shows random acts of kindness, like bringing cookies to me. Her approach lets me guide the conversation where I want it to go, so she encourages a good balance of completing tasks while not being pushy. In conclusion, while I was sad to lose my first mentor, Dr. Lehman is doing an awesome job. I am so lucky!