Yazmin Figueroa-Guzman

Field: Psychology/Neuroscience
SR-EIP: New York University (2000)
Undergrad: University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras (2001)
Graduate School: National Autonomous University of Mexico (2005)
Postdoc: University of Illinois at Chicago, Behavioral Neuroscience
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Marquette University

 

Could you talk about any memorable experiences from your summer research at NYU?
The entire experience itself was amazing, and very well organized.  I had participated in a different summer research program the previous year, and my expectations, based on that experience, were exceeded by the Leadership Alliance.  I was very impressed with how well my mentor [Karen Adolph] knew everything about me before I arrived, including where I was coming from and my research interests.  She was very helpful and very encouraging.  She also treated me as one of her postdoc students, pushing me to be more than an undergraduate researcher.  

I can recall a particular day, one week before the national symposium.  After practicing my presentation with my mentor, we went to her office, and she explained, “You’re going to be a senior next year, and you have to be able to sell yourself through your research presentations.”  It was really helpful to hear her advice about how important my research and research experience would be as assets when apply to top graduate programs.

Can you talk about how your summer experience prepared you for graduate school?
It helped me learn about being committed to research.  If I didn’t have that summer research experience, I would not have known what to expect when I reached graduate school.  It teaches you about the level of commitment that the professors and administrators at the graduate level will expect from you, as well as how that commitment can lead to successful completion of your program.

Can you talk about the role of mentorship in your career?
Mentors play a key role, as the knowledge and skills that they possess can be extremely helpful in directing students down the path toward success as researchers and scholars.  Personally, recognized the importance of encouraging my students just as my mentors encouraged me.  I am proud to say that, now, I have assisted in helping one of them publish a paper.  I am also proud to say that another student has been accepted to medical school while another into a biomedical sciences master program and another into a psychology graduate program in Australia.

What advice would you give to this year’s Leadership Alliance participants?

Take this opportunity seriously.  This will not only help you get into graduate school but also help you successfully achieve your PhD and reach whatever goals you set for yourself.  The Leadership Alliance experience offers a great opportunity to develop and train to become a good researcher.  This isn’t just a fun trip, or even a summer job.  You should do more than what is asked of you, even if that means staying in lab more than required hours.  Take everything you can from the program, your research experiences, and your mentors.

Is there anything else that you would like to mention?
I think this is a really, really good program.  I try to encourage a lot of my current students to apply for the program.

Another thing we used to do at NYU [during my summer research experience] was have writing groups once a week.  We would write about our research and share it with the other students.  English is my second language, so this taught me how to more clearly detail my research in writing.  It was also good to learn about the other students and their different cultural experiences and backgrounds.