Student cites faculty mentoring as key to success

Brevin St. Onge was weighing his options for life after high school. He considered the reputations of schools bigger than Central Michigan University. What he found at CMU was an opportunity to shine.

St. Onge, from Mount Pleasant, is finishing up his bachelor’s degree this summer, researching what might turn out to be a new way to treat diabetes. One of the faculty members in the Neuroscience program is providing vital mentoring for him.

“I wholeheartedly believe that if I went to a bigger school, it would have been very difficult to get the same amount of guidance,” he said.

The faculty member he is working with is Eric Petersen, a neuroscientist in the College of Medicine. Petersen said that helping students succeed is part of CMU’s interdisciplinary Neuroscience program’s philosophy.

“It’s a priority for most of the Neuroscience faculty here to provide research experience to undergraduate students,” Petersen said. “It’s a priority for us to see them succeed.”

St. Onge said that his success isn’t just the result of Petersen’s close mentorship. He’s received a lot of help from his fellow students.

When he came to CMU, he connected with an upperclassman to show him the ropes in the lab. In the first couple of years, he developed valuable experience learning the various hacks and tricks of working in a lab. That’s also meant learning from mistakes.

Getting experience in the lab is key to St. Onge’s desired next step, which is medical school.

Experience working in faculty labs is also readily available in the neurosciences program, Petersen said.

“Any Neuroscience student interested in doing research will have an opportunity to work with a faculty member,” he said.

The faculty in the Neuroscience Program collaborate closely on projects, he said. That means students working in one lab have the opportunity to work with students working in another one.

St. Onge said that’s helped him build connections with other students by sharing ideas. That’s played an important role in setting him up for his final research project.

“CMU is big enough for rigorous research, but small enough for opportunities,” he said.