The
conference was exhilarating and time flew. I learnt quite a few new things from
all the panel members’ talks. All the members started with introducing
themselves and talked about the advantages offered by STEM careers. Then they
talked about the role of mentorship. True, as one of the panel members said,
perfect mentors are scarce. I felt that role of mentorship is supremely
important too. A mentor can even guide to maintain work-life balance and to
steer clear of the challenges faced in addition to academic mentoring.
The
entire panel members spoke of their experiences and lessons learnt from their experiences
on maintaining work-life balance and challenges faced by maternity etc. One of
the panel members appeared extremely macho in attitude and expression and I
felt such a strength, courage, aggressiveness, and lack of emotional response are
essential in the pursuit of an intellectual and successful STEM career.
One
of the panel member’s talks echoed my feelings on the importance of the right
partner. There were many pointers and advices given by all the panel members. I
have noted down all of them and shall refer to them many times in future. One
of the panel members concluded the conference by recommending three books which
attack on many prejudices.
The
take away message: “Time management is the key and life’s a balance”.
The
entire experience was thriving and I felt bad that I could attend only the
panel presentation, not the entire conference.
