The Woman Behind McNair

I had my first meeting with the director to talk about my progress in the program so far. She seems to genuinely care about her students and wants to make sure they benefit from the program. It is a wonderful feeling to know someone is working hard to give us new and fantastic opportunities. She was very excited to see that I interviewed professors and the questions I had used. She even asked if she could keep them and look over my work. Her excitement made me happy. Lynn seems proud of me and I am too.
I can tell that Lynn loves her job. She loves helping others and that is important to me. She wants to know who I am, about my family, my motivations, and my goals. I am not one more student to go through a program that she is required to monitor as a part of her job. She treats me like a friend someone I can ask questions too and confide in. Her personality is vibrant and gives me the confidence that I can succeed at anything I put my mind too.
When I asked her about what I should look for in a mentor for graduate school she shared with me an e-mail sent to her from a previous McNair Scholar who said that in her own experience the best mentors in the world are those that you get along with and who care about your success as a student. It will not matter what kind of research you are doing if you love who you are working with. I will remember that advice.
The last question I asked her was what school she feels I can apply to and she said that she thinks I can apply to some very prestigious colleges, some smaller middle ranking colleges, and some I am sure I will get into. She said that she thought I could be accepted into some high ranking schools and her encouragement has helped me to believe too. Lynn is a very special person without her the McNair Program would not be the wonderful program it is today.