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Why You Need a Mentor
and how to get one.
As an aspiring, self-taught bioinformatician, I often get lost in whatever topic I am currently learning, and it is easy to give up.
Despite setting strict deadlines and elaborate measures of accountabilities with savory rewards, it is still freaking hard.
Holding myself accountable was not enough because it takes such a long time, an asset I can’t get back.
That’s when I realized I needed someone with the knowledge and experience to guide me through my journey as a self-taught bioinformatician: a senpai, aka a mentor.
In this short piece, I’m sharing why you need one and how to get one.
Why You Need a Mentor
1. You NEED a Second Set of Opinions (Obviously)
Towards the end of my first bioinformatics project (gene family analysis), I got very doubtful about everything, from the methods and packages I used to the results I obtained. I got anxious constantly because I felt that something could be incorrect, but I didn’t know how to reaffirm my confidence in my work.
My mentor guided me in my projects. From then, everything became more manageable and smoother. Even if there were times when she could not help me with my analyses, she could…
