These professors find meaning through mentorship

Teaching isn’t the only way Carolina professors shape students. Whether through formal programs or informally, many Tar Heel faculty members offer advice on everything from academics to career opportunities or even things like being a first-generation college student.

“It’s part of the job,” said Zachary Yukio Kerr ’14 (PhD), an associate professor in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences’ exercise and sport science department. “We are not just here to do research, regardless of our professional track. We are here to provide mentorship and guidance for the next generation of North Carolinians.”

Read more about Kerr and three other professors’ experiences mentoring at Carolina.

Zachary Yukio Kerr

In the EXSS department, Kerr’s work deals with sports-related injury epidemiology and prevention and has included collaboration with the NCAA and NFL.

He mentors Carolina Covenant scholars.

Why do you mentor at Carolina?

It would be difficult for me to hear students talk about their goals and not wonder how I could help them, be it offering my time and guidance or connecting them to my own personal and professional networks of experts.

Someone did that for me as an undergrad, and it makes sense to continue this important cycle of mentorship. The most satisfying part of the job is to see them down the road serving as mentors to others.

What personal lessons from your own experiences do you share with students?

Perfection is a myth. The “failure” of starting over will happen again and again, be it not getting into a desired program or losing a personal relationship.

I can’t emphasize how many times I experienced this in my personal and professional lives. But I emphasize with openness and transparency that while it is hard, it will lead you to somewhere better.

What have been your favorite moments mentoring?

I remember being a first-year faculty, and I kept seeing my best students had “Carolina Covenant” on their email signature. I was so inspired when I saw what the program was and did for our Carolina students. I made it a goal to become a mentor and was able to do so a few years back.

I have a favorite memory with each student. The two I can think of are seeing Heidi, my first mentee, make her way from her first year here to starting grad school this year.

I ran into another student, Isabel, at a conference that I attend annually, and I was thrilled to hear her talk about how happy she was as she finished her first year of graduate school. To be able to say “I’m so proud of you” was a pivotal moment for me.

Ashley Anderson

(Megan Mendenhall/UNC Research)

As an assistant professor in the College’s political science department, Anderson researches and teaches about comparative politics, focusing on authoritarian regimes.

She mentors Covenant scholars.

Why do you mentor at Carolina?

One thing I felt was missing in my undergraduate experience was having mentors in my field that looked like me.  It’s possible that not every student desires a mentor who mirrors their identity, but for me, having a Black faculty mentor would have shown me that my dreams of being a political science professor were possible and opened new doors for me to thrive in my field.

What personal lessons from your own experiences do you share with students?

I talk to my mentees about almost every challenge I faced as an undergraduate: from coming to college without enough money to pay for books (I didn’t know you needed to) to mental health struggles I encountered my sophomore year to my transformative experiences studying and working abroad.

Many students come into the University thinking that they need to have everything planned out, but I try to use my own experiences to encourage them to be a bit more improvisational and explore different fields. If I had done what I originally came into college for, I would have been miserable.

What have been your favorite moments mentoring?

My favorite memory comes from my first year as a Covenant mentor. Every spring, I take my mentees out for an end-of-year dinner at a nice restaurant so we can catch up on the semester and celebrate accomplishments. This was my first one, and it was so nice to see the students dressed up and having a good time. I come from a time where you just sit down and enjoy your food, but it was cool to see them taking selfies for their Instagrams and exchanging accounts/numbers with one another to follow up.

Patrick Harrison

Harrison is a teaching associate professor in the College’s psychology and neuroscience department, where he’s also director of instructional development. His research deals with positivity psychology, including improving intergroup relations and well-being.

He mentors Carolina scholars and also works with students in his department as a teaching and research mentor and through honors theses.

Why do you mentor at Carolina?

Mentoring is an incredible privilege that can make or break students’ trajectories. Those of us who had wonderful mentors know the difference mentorship can make. It is only right to repay the time, effort and care to the next generation of scholars.

What personal lessons from your own experiences do you share with students?

I focus on examples when I felt unsure about my abilities or when I faced challenges. I try to model vulnerability and normalize failure with an emphasis on the lessons learned. We are all learning, and life is certainly not easy. The people we surround ourselves with are often those who make all the difference: Maybe they make a connection that leads to an opportunity. Maybe they are the one person who lifts you up on a down day. Maybe they see something that you don’t. Get a team that believes in you.

What have been your favorite moments mentoring?

The most rewarding experiences are when you get to say, “I knew you could do it and you did!” Self-doubt is completely normal, but I tell students to believe in their abilities and trust the process. When they get a grant, get accepted into a doctoral program or get through a life challenge, it is so much fun to reminisce and remember that they had doubts but overcame.

Dan Thornton

Hardly anyone knows more about mentoring at Carolina than Thornton, a teaching associate professor of Dutch in the College’s Germanic and Slavic languages and literatures department. He also served as the University’s associate director for scholarships for 25 years and helped lead considerable growth in mentorship opportunities.

He currently mentors Blue Sky scholars as well as a combination of Col. Robinson and Carolina scholars. He’s also informally mentored as a faculty adviser for student groups like the Eve Carson Scholarship executive committee, the Dutch club and the German club.

Why do you mentor at Carolina?

Knowing the impact that a kind word, a willing ear and a genuine interest in a student’s background and life story can have. I think that mentoring students is hugely important, and what one gets out of it is a two-way street.  When I was an undergraduate some 40 years ago, I benefitted immensely from having had a couple of professors who took an interest in my development as a person outside of the classes I was taking.  Even though it wasn’t mentoring in an official capacity, it had tremendous impact on me and my desire to get a doctorate and work in higher education.

What personal lessons from your own experiences do you share with students?

I try to remind them that being a student should be an enjoyable experience and that they should try to find ways to love what they’re learning, rather than being laser-focused on a particular internship or job or income bracket — and that they really do need to get more sleep.

I also share with them my own upbringing in an isolated rural community and how one can still develop into a worldly, culturally savvy person simply by being open to trying new things and being receptive to the lived experiences of others.

What have been your favorite moments mentoring?

One thing I always try to do is expose them to new restaurant experiences that they would likely otherwise miss out on due to being intimidated or not being able to afford it.

It’s always really rewarding to see them enjoying new culinary experiences and also letting them learn to be comfortable in an environment that they one day will likely frequent in their careers later in life.  Those small degrees of exposure really build confidence in a way that is hard to measure.  Plus, I always really love it when a mentee is about to graduate, and they tell me how much they have gained from my mentorship.