it's Here!!!!!!

The week of midterms and papers always manages to motivate me into catching up. I've been studying and writing like crazy this week and this course is getting it's share of attention as well.

This blog gets handed in on Monday as well as the rest of the loot that's due. I'm starving right now but there's no time to eat so I'd best keep on writing and dreaming about the hot almond milk I'll be drinking tonight. MMMMmmmmm.

So I've solved the dilemma of the second text. I ordered Under Her Wing, Barbara Quick from Amazon in the US and got them to one day ship it to a friend of a friend who then brought it over for me. I paid over $30 for a $10 book - good grief. It's here now and I'm glad I hung on for it though because it's really going to mesh well with my project. Thank you thank you Rob and Keith. Funny/ironic thing though is that when I called to cancel the order from the Toronto Women's Bookstore they were just about to mail it out to me. go figure. (do I believe it?) I would have much rather gotten it there, but after waiting a month I couldn't wait anymore. Publisher difficulties aside, they should have called me when it came in like they said they would. I've now got mentoring books pouring off my shelves. I picked up a second hand Mentoring Women in Science and even though the spine's all cracked and the pages falling out it still has some useful stuff in it. Quick's though I've decided is still the best all-round choice.

So what do I like about Quick's? I've read the "How it all got started" section and a bit into Chapter One (remember I'm in exam crunch right now) and it provides what is missing in Zachary's book: the perspective of the mentee. It's full of wise one-liners and quotes from inspiring mentors which if I had it with me right now I would share with you. Next blog. I promise. ;) A theme so far is that working with a mentor can provide an opportunity to build confidence, to see that we can accomplish all kinds of things, that we are capable and valuable. I don't think I really got that side of it from Zachary. I mean, I realize there are advantages to having a mentor, but I never looked at is as Quick does: as a potential healing process. Of course the mentors and mentees in her book are adult women, not undergraduates necessarily, but I think it's still very much applicable. Who has more angst than a teenager?

Quick's book is written for people on both sides of the mentoring relationship. I have noted things for myself like how influential mentors have been in people's lives and that little droppings of wisdom stick with an individual for a long, long time. I have also really recognized myself in the mentee anecdotes. Of course I'm not in line for a mentor anywhere at the moment but I'm seriously thinking that I have to find myself a career specific mentor. Just not sure where to start looking. I'm hoping that the combination of Quick, Ms. Mentor, and the Women & Science book will help me find some direction.

I think I'll be whizzing through the Quick book if it carries on as it has been so far. It's very inspirational.

Oh, and this week (instead of studying) I read Oryx and Crake. What a book - if you're looking for something totally depressing, pick this one up. More on that one next time.