Graduate Student Gains Joy By Mentoring High Schoolers

By Dirk Hoffman

Awarded to meritorious college women of Western New York for graduate and professional school study, the $8,000 grant honors the legacy of its donor and longtime AAUW member Olga Lindberg.

Lindberg was a lifelong Buffalo area resident, who earned a bachelor’s degree from the University at Buffalo. She worked for 40 years at Williams-Gold Refinery in Buffalo as an administrative assistant, and was also a freelance reporter. She died in 2000 at the age of 93.

Lenhard says she learned of the AAUW scholarship opportunity through her PhD adviser, Elsa Bou Ghanem, PhD, associate professor of microbiology and immunology.

The application process included answering questions about personal goals, student activities, community involvement, and honors received. The process also involved submitting academic transcripts and letters of support, and writing a short essay about her life goals.

One of the things highlighted in her application was her involvement as a mentor in UB’s Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) program for the past two years.

She participates in WiSE’s STEM Outreach Program, a mentorship program specifically designed for high school students interested in pursuing degrees in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

The program involves UB students going to high schools for about six to eight weeks to mentor female sophomores who might have some interest in STEM college careers.

Lenhard went to North Tonawanda High School her first year and Hutchinson Central Technical High School this past year.

“I absolutely loved it. We get to discuss what it means to be a part of STEM, the degrees and jobs within the field, and how to navigate selecting a college,” she says. “Part of the program also includes on-campus days where the students get to come to UB’s North Campus and take tours, participate in group activities, and listen to a panel of speakers discuss what it means to be a woman in STEM.”

Lenhard says one of the most important messages she tries to relay to high school students is that it is OK for them to change their mind.

“Our passions and interests evolve as we get older, and I know that what I am doing right now is not what I had envisioned as a 17-year-old,” she says. 

Sarah Baillie, the WiSE program director, says that in addition to her weekly mentoring sessions with small groups of high school students, Lenhard has also shared an overview of her STEM education and career journey thus far to larger student audiences during assemblies at participating schools.

“Alex is approachable and candid with the students when talking about her job and educational experiences, sharing things that have been tough and what she wishes she had done differently knowing what she knows now,” she says.

“I think it’s important for younger students to hear about nonlinear paths and the value of having a variety of experiences, like how Alex worked in health care before moving to research,” Baillie adds. “As one of the few graduate students we have participating as a mentor, I think she’s an informal mentor to our undergraduate student mentors as well.”

Lenhard, whose long-term goal as a researcher is to work at a biotech company focused on translational science to better human health, finds mentoring high school students to be extremely gratifying.

“Seeing their excitement talking about their futures is what gives me the most satisfaction,” she says. “I love that I get to be someone they can ask for advice on navigating this next step, especially since I did not have this when I was going through high school.”

“When they get excited to talk to me and ask questions, I know I am getting to be for them what I did not have, and that brings me the most joy.”