An essay on mentoring by Professor Shanell T. Smith was included in The FTE Guide to Doctoral Education: For Scholars of Color in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies. The guide is produced by the Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE).

Professor Smith’s essay, “I Want to Be Your Mentor. We Want to Be Your Mentor!” is written as an open letter offering assistance to the scholars who will read the guide.

Professor Smith, Assistant Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Hartford Seminary, was an FTE Fellow in 2007, 2009 and 2011.

In her opening, she writes: “I’ve been there. I know about the anxieties. I know about the pressure from peers, family and friends who wonder why you need to do more schooling. I can relate to the stress of waiting to hear if you have been accepted into a program, how much funding who would receive, and wrestling with how selfish it feels to uproot your entire family and relocate to the locale of your institution.”

For more information about the Forum for Theological Education, visit this link.