A mentor from a different field
When I was applying for SEF ScholarX mentorship I was skeptical about having mentors from a different field than mine. I wondered, what benefit would I get from someone who’s experience would be unrelated to the work I am thinking of doing? Wouldn’t it be better to work with someone who walked the same road I am embarked on?
However, once I spent time working with my mentor I realized the benefits of having a mentor from a different field.
There’s a lot more to learning and working than the subjects you specialize in. You’ll clearly see skills and competencies that are important for almost everyone, especially since the focus is not on subject specific skills. Most importantly, you will realize you can actually make your own road based on your unique experience and expertise gained through working with people from different fields.
1. You learn a lot of transferable skills
Transferable skills are common to almost all fields of study and work. Time management, project based skills, communication, and collaboration are some of the skills I learned and expanded upon during my mentorship with Ms Yadurshini Raveendran. I have actually thought about these during my internship application is one of the main reasons I proceeded with it. You can be guaranteed to use these skills at some point in your career regardless of your field. So it would help to have a mentor guide you through it.
Aside from these, which I anticipated, I also learned a lot about interviews and marketing yourself. Ms Raveendran is a very energetic mentor who has engaged in a lot of projects all over the world and has interacted with many different organizations, academics and professionals. Her experience and broad knowledge about various different topics have been invaluable. We had many enriching conversations which ranged from dealing with workplaces and presenting in conferences to dealing with different healthcare systems and climates.
2. You learn about new areas in your field
You’d be surprised about how much you will learn about your own field once you work with someone from a different field. You would consider exploring areas that you were not aware before or haven’t really had a reason to be interested. You might even find your passion. My mentor studied global health, being a recent masters graduate of Duke Global Health Institute with her thesis on: How to improve nutrition in pediatric cancer patients. I myself am a student of psychology at Coventry University, and social sciences focusing on economics and development studies at the Open University of Sri Lanka. As you can imagine, while our subjects aligned at some points, for the most part we have previously studied vastly different topics.
In trying to find common ground to work on different projects I stumbled upon the field of mental health economics. It was not an easy task, but it paid off well with the knowledge gained about the many different areas about my own subjects and how similar or overlapping some aspects of our respective areas of study are. I haven’t really paid attention to mental health economics before but, after actually exploring it as part of a writing project in my mentorship, I realized how much I love this particular area. It would have taken a long time for me to find this on my own.
3. You learn to work with experts from different fields
If you plan to go further in your area of study or career, you would inevitably find yourself working with experts from a different field than yours. You might be good at interpersonal communication but you could still have trouble trying to work with them. Having a mentor from a different field earlier on could help you learn how to work with them. You would know how to handle things you have no idea or no interest in knowing, how to quickly learn new things, and also on how to teach things. While I previously would have hesitated in working with experts from different fields, based on my experience in working with my amazing mentor, now I am eager to join more such opportunities
This has just been but a tiny account on what you might gain in a mentorship or collaboration with someone from a different field. The most important thing you should realize is that opportunities present themselves all the time and it is up to you to recognize and seize them. Rather than restricting yourself to a narrow field, be on alert for chances to work with those who are with different areas of expertise. You’ll find yourself in a learning opportunity beyond your expectations. Who knows what novel groundbreaking discoveries you might have owing to your unique involvement.
Thilina Dhammage is a student living in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He’s passionate about research and likes to spend time reading with his cat.
