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Challenge: balancing being supportive of a student and being their therapist.

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Office hours are very unproductive. Typically, a handful of undergrads who are in the grad classes commandeer the whole session and do not allow others to pose any questions until all of theirs have been answered. Professors seem very incapable of handling this appropriately. I’ve had professors tell me that since I’m a grad student and my grades don’t matter, I don’t need to be there. (As if my understanding was irrelevant…)

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I want my advisor to take a more active mentorship role.

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Challenge: I love to dedicate a lot of time to my teaching and want to dedicate even more. However, I feel a ton of pressure to focus more on research so that I can get a job at the next stage.

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Its been really challenging to try to not be perfect all the time, and let that hold me back from learning.

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How to engage students.

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Balancing mentoring responsibilities with research!

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A thing that really works for me is seriously prepare what I am going to say / ask in my meeting with advisor ahead of time.

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not sure if my project suggestions are going to be good ones

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Most faculty I interact with think it’s my job to understand everything they say, yet put in very little effort to practice more effective pedagogy.

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I struggle to check in often enough to empower the mentee. On the positive side, I am always open to extend a meeting considerably to help the mentee setting up and working out an idea. Maybe these two facets are connected?

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I need people to response to their emails

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having enough time to be a good teacher, given my other obligations

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I structured my advisor meetings in two parts: 1) what I did that week and 2) what my questions were. This worked well. I often feared what my advisor thought of me though, if I was doing a good job. Even though they were extremely friendly. I didn’t know how to ask - can we assess my progress?

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Just to balance this out, I have had wonderful experiences with professors and feel supported. I feel like several professors really care and put in a lot of attention DESPITE the fact that professors do not get externally rewarded/ encouraged for good advising.

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How to make my class a good experience and help heal the trauma that past math classes have caused my students.

Success: Some of my students have told me I effectively did this and that mine was the first math class they ever enjoyed.

Challenge: I don't have the time or energy to do everything I can to help my students. The institution relies on grad students caring because so often the professors don't.

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Adjusting my teaching style to help as many students as possible, but also still accepting that some people will fall through the cracks.. and it’s not a moral reflection on me

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Creating a safe space for students has been successful thus far. I have struggled with time management and prioritizing my own work over teaching.

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Choosing a project to work on with little idea of what makes a good project or what my advisor would be able to help me with.

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Caring

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Being spread too thin/having trouble being able to find enough bandwidth to connect with all of the students.

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Many undergrads come to my office for advice and mentoring because there are very few outlets for them to get any support elsewhere. I love providing this for them but I’m not getting any extra compensation and I’m missing out on time for my own studies.

I struggle with this because I feel like if I don’t make time for them no one will, but then where does the time come for my own stuff?

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MORE CLARITY AND COMMUNICATION FROM ALL PARTIES

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Managing time for students, wanting to help but sometimes overstepping

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Getting students to collaborate with each other and not view math as a thing you're meant to do (or is even possible to do) alone

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Learning how to make the most out of meetings / conferences / networking is such a challenge

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I've felt a sense of community and understanding. It's made me feel way more confident in the department.

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Choosing an advisor was difficult. I felt like I had to manage a lot of relationships and questions whether I made the right choice

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Imposter syndrome setting in deep enough that I can't be a confident mentor, because I'm afraid I wouldn't have anything useful to share.

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Reaching out to Professors to start talking about math, unsure of what this process entails and afraid of rejection or getting a reputation as not being a bright student

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My advisor is great when he’s in a good mood or had a nice coffee before, but with the huge caveat that that’s SO rare. He can be very thoughtful but also very spacey and uncommunicative, and I can’t ever tell what kind of day it is until it’s happening.

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It is hard to know what a student wants out of the meetings. Perhaps because it is hard for the students themselves to know? (DRP advising)

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hopefully, establishing a comfortable environment, creating excitement about new ideas

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Always feel like I'm bugging my advisor, not having a sense of what my advisor thinks of me and if he thinks I'm capable, not being in regualr contact with advisor.

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Knowing how to bring up the topic of expectations

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Feeling supported by my advisor. Practicing vulnerability in asking questions, talking about my needs as an advisee.

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Stressed undergrads try to get advisorship from me (a grad student) because they can't talk to other people, and I feel that I simply can't balance helping them with helping myself deal with the same academic loneliness they're experiencing

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Encourage the participation of all students, especially the shy ones

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Encourage the participation of all students, especially the shy ones

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A lot of my undergraduate mentees have made it through most of their undergraduate education without a mentor — not only not knowing that it was possible, but also not even knowing what we’re supposed to talk about.

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Being late to answering emails :| i'm so sorry, my current goal is to get better at timeliness in communication

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Getting enough of my adviser’s time, even after communicating my needs