Mentoring NOBCChE Style
By Tokiwa T. Smith

The 2007 NOBCChE Conference theme “No Limit, Know the Future, Know NOBCChE”, caused me to reflect on how individuals within the organization have mentored me and caused this theme to become a reality in my life.   I am sure that upon reflection, we all have our stories to tell about our NOBCChE mentors and how they have impacted our lives, both professionally and personally.  I want to take this time as we prepare for this year’s conference to honor the two that have been most influential in my life: Dr. Dale Wesson of Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU) and Dr. James Grainger, Southeast Regional Chair.

Dr. Wesson was my professor and NOBCChE Chapter Advisor while pursing my chemical engineering degree at FAMU.  The College of Engineering was a joint program with Florida State University (FSU) and the chemical engineering department seemed to have more professors on FSU’s payroll than on FAMU’s.  As a FAMU professor, he was the person on campus that even if he wasn’t your teacher or advisor you spent some time in his office.  He was the person that we knew we could talk to and he would give us sound counsel and develop us both inside and outside the classroom.  Even today five years after graduating from FAMU (thanks to Dr. Wesson and I having the same cell phone carrier), I still seek his counsel and am developed by him both professionally and personally.

In my fourth year of college, I was conducting undergraduate research and looking for a conference at which to present my research.  My friend worked in Dr. Wesson’s lab, so we went to his office to ask him about potential conferences.  He mentioned that we should go to the NOBCChE meeting, and after hearing the details, we agreed.  Then Dr. Wesson did what he does best, make a phone call and/or email to one of his contacts to get the information needed to accomplish the task at hand.  Our abstracts were accepted and we were off to attend the 2000 Annual Meeting in Miami, our first NOBCChE conference.  Actually Dr. Wesson not only told us to go, but drove my friend and I from Tallahassee to the meeting in Miami.   The conference impacted me so much, that I have attended several meetings since and have been active with NOBCChE on local, regional and national levels.

Dr. Wesson was and continues to be a great mentor to me. He helps me to know myself, my abilities and to know that based on my abilities, I have no limits and that with proper planning and hard work, I can have a great future.   Not only did he bring me to that meeting, but I know that if I don’t see Dr. Wesson at any other time of the year, I will see him at the NOBCChE Annual Meeting.  After that 2000 meeting, my friend and I were inspired to revitalize the FAMU/FSU student chapter.  During that process I met my second mentor, Dr. James Grainger, NOBCChE’s Southeast Regional Chair.

I may be slightly biased, being from the southeast, but I think that Dr. Grainger is the best regional chair in the organization.   Dr. Grainger is a NOBCChE chair that is whole-heartedly dedicated to the growth of the organization and the development of its members.  He devotes his time, talents, and resources to do so. Dr. Grainger is the reason why I am so dedicated to and involved with the organization.  His enthusiasm and work ethic are contagious.  In addition to being a great chair, he has been a great mentor.

Dr. Grainger has the ability to see the best qualities, talents and abilities in you, tell you what they are and make sure, even if he has to put in you in it, that you are in you the right environment to develop them.  During this process, he is right beside you, encouraging and equipping you.  I remember after a national meeting being upset about something that I saw and telling him how I thought it should be changed.  He listened to me and then gave me some valuable counsel on how the world works and what I should and could do about it.   Then he told me we couldn’t do anything about it on a national level, but we could do something about it on a local/regional level.  I was excited until he told me that he was creating my current position within the region, Southeast Regional Chapter Liaison, to assist him with implementing some of my suggestions.

At first, I was scared of the challenge that was ahead of me, working with Dr. Grainger in a region as large as the Southeast.  But I had to accept the challenge, because I have a practice of not making suggestions I am not willing to work to implement. These past few years serving Dr. Grainger and assisting him with the region have been great. Yes, there are challenging moments, and sometimes I do feel overwhelmed when trusted with an awesome task, but I have grown so much professionally and personally during this experience.  Upon reflection, I realize that he was just doing what he does best as a mentor: putting me in the environment to develop the qualities, talents and abilities that he saw in me.

I can never fully repay nor show my appreciation to these great men for all that they poured into my life.  I was able to show Dr. Wesson a small token by nominating him for the Henry McBay Outstanding Teaching Award, which he was awarded in 2003.  I was able to show Dr. Grainger a small token during our 2^nd Annual Regional Meeting at the closing session, by telling everyone in the room that we had the best chair in the organization and having them applaud him, but I realize that I am not supposed to try to pay them back.   They have poured into me what was poured into them.

So my tribute and gift to them will be to continue to be the person that they have helped me to become.  To always strive to do better and become better and never forget the lessons they taught me.  So right now I am at an interesting place in my life, I have become a mentor to those behind me while still being mentored.  It is my responsibility to make this year’s conference theme “No Limits, Know the Future, Know NOBCChE” a reality to those that will come behind me.  I must pour into and teach others what has been has been poured into me and taught to me.