2/22/21 - Hanging with Dr. Cooper - Guest Paige Cooper

Well, hey everybody. Welcome to Made for Mondays. I'm so happy that you're here that the couple of minutes you give us each and every Monday, whether this is on your drive, whether this, whether you're at work or whether you're just at home or you're going on the long walk from, you know, your bedroom to the living room for another zoom call. Welcome to Made for Mondays. My name is Justin. I serve as your host or sometimes our speaker, whatever it is. We're just happy you're here. Can you do us a favor? Can you take a moment to subscribe on your favorite podcasting site? That way you get the automatic download as soon as these go live early in the morning on Monday morning. But it also assists us in ensuring that we continue to put out great content, able to know exactly who's here and prayerfully give you exactly what you need. If you ever have anything you want to talk about, ever have anything that you have a question about, you can email us@rev jr lestermail.com and that way we'll follow up with you. We'll engage with you and push you as well. I want to acknowledge two books that we have out that you can go ahead and grab if you want to. One book is called Necessary Endings. Some things need to die for you to live. And I wrote that book simply giving you four mindsets that I believe need to die for us to lean into fully who we can be. And that's Necessary Endings. Then another book I have is a book called Brown Dad, Brown Boy, Brown Basketball, where my son and I detail the morning routine of a toddler and his father, giving light to the father and son relationships out there and really highlighting how powerful and awesome it is to have great fathers in a home, if I say so myself. Welcome to Made for Mondays Today. We have an amazing guest today. Her name is Dr. Paige Cooper. Paige is from Duke University. She is the director of Biocor. She's responsible for designing innov and practical programming for both the academic and professional development of the needs of graduate and undergraduate scholars. Paige went to Spelman for her Bachelor's and then she went on to Washington University of St. Louis to complete her Ph.D. in molecular cell biology. She is a legit, beyond legit person. A beautiful gift to the kingdom, a beautiful gift to the world. And I'm so happy to have Paige with us as we continue our journey of learning and gleaning from our Brown and wonderful Black sisters. And so take a moment and like I said already, go ahead, subscribe, but get ready for a great conversation between myself and Paige Cooper. Now, remember, these were recorded on Zoom, so the quality may not be the best, but the information is the right for you. We'll come back at the end for affirmations and go on about our week. Have a wonderful week. Now let's jump into our conversation with Dr. Cooper.

And today we're happy to have with us Dr. Cooper hanging with Dr. Cooper and one of my wife's best friends. And so just amazing, amazing blessing to the world and reached out to Paige. She's doing amazing things all the way down at Duke, and I think should be a blessing to all of you just to hear Dr. Paige Cooper. Hey, Paige. Hey.

Thank you, Justin, for having me. This is actually a really, really cool honor, so I'm glad to be joining you.

Oh, yes. And you're a leader. That's why I love doing this. And just the work you're doing. And you have an awesome Twitter page and a lot of awesome GIFs, and.

So, yes, that is my. That is definitely a me thing. GIFs are. Yeah, that's me.

So tell us a little bit about you. So who are you? What do you do, and how did you get to where you are?

Yeah. So My name is Dr. Cooper, and I am a scientist by training. I have a PhD in cell biology, and I currently direct a program called BioCorps, which is at Duke. And I support underrepresented STEM PhD students and underrepresented being students who come from a background or identity that is not commonly seen among scientists. And it's a privilege to kind of work with students, to walk through the path that I have been down myself.

So you're. I'm assuming that just hearing from that, you see a lot. So, like, injustice on a level that.

I don't think a lot of us.

How do you. How do you keep yourself sane with not just what I assume you see, but, like, based upon even what you just said, how do you keep yourself sane in terms of supporting those students and then probably being in the middle sometimes of. Right. So how do you keep yourself.

Sane.

And in the midst of you being you and also supporting others as they're trying to be themselves?

Yeah. So I think something that I kind of learned the hard way is to make time, to separate work time and page time. And at the beginning, I was trying to conquer it all, be everything to everybody. All the students need me right now. Okay. Right now, here I am for you and you and you and you.

And.

I wasn't giving my best to them. And it was of course, burnt out and had nothing to even give to myself. So definitely having a separate time and kind of making an end of the day for me where I do things that are important to me as an individual and then getting back at it and then, yeah, separating. Separating the work time and page time is a huge thing that. Still growing in. Definitely still growing in.

How do you turn your mind off? Because even as I see the. The blanket behind you. So I'm assuming there's a lot of thinking, a lot of reading, a lot of conversations. How do you get to a place where you can turn your mind off to live into page time after you have a long day of not just leading others, but also leading yourself and a lot of reading and writing. How do you do that?

Yeah, so I think one thing that makes it, I won't say easy, but makes it easier is that I really love supporting students. And so when I am full, it is no problem for me to give to others and I get satisfaction from that. So when I am less full, I think the way that I turn my mind off is making sure I go hang out with friends or just trying to get support from others when I know I don't have any more to give. Like trying to reach out to other people who I know have my back or are in the role, similar roles that I am, and trying to get advice from them about how to. How to make the separation. And so again, I'll say I'm still growing in this, but for the most part, I think making sure that particularly on the weekends and stuff like that, that I don't check email, I don't just real quick answer this email because that's a slippery slope, particularly when that's in my. That's what's in my heart to do. Like, it just, it just kind of starts into one email, then the next one and the next one. And so really trying to make sure, like I. On my phone, like, just small things. I don't have notifications from my work email at any time. And so I have to, I have to consciously like, open the app in order for my emails to start flowing through. And yeah, I think that that's one big thing is just trying to make sure that I set some boundaries and small things like apps and going to hang out with friends and like not opening the work email over the weekends, things like that are. And then, you know, I mean, Netflix is every. Netflix is great. And, you know, I love to eat and stuff like that. So there's, there's Stuff to do outside of work. And so making sure I make time to do those things is. Is part of how to turn it off for me.

That's wonderful. Thank you.

So what would you say, Paige, to.

Someone trying to get into your field and to get to where you are today and to be in the space you're in to do the work you're doing? What would you say to them or how they can get in there? Habits they need to develop early to withstand all the blows they might get.

Yeah. So I would say for people who are interested in being a scientist, even if you're middle school, high school, there are opportunities out there. And actually if most of the people watching are at Cogniz street, like there's Brown down the street, there are opportunities that are. That are available. And so Google is our friend. And taking high school opportunities for research, you'll be amazed at the things that you can find. There's teachers and for college students, I think that is talking to your advisors and career counselors. And for graduate students, I think that each level up there are people who are available to help out. And one thing I think people should really be aware of is that there are plenty of great people who are willing to help you out along the way if you're willing to ask. And I think that's a huge, huge piece. Even if it's maybe a little bit embarrassing or a little fearful, I don't know this person. There's some awesome people that will be willing to help. And I will. I'll put a plug right now. If anyone is interested in STEM or higher ed, I'm happy to be a first point of contact and kind of guide you in. Some people that you may be willing to reach out to, but gotta take the steps. And so in terms of habits, I think working hard at what you do and following through with the things that you say you will do, particularly as you're trying to connect with people and, you know, they give you a piece of advice. Nothing is more of a factor for disinterest. If, you know, I say, hey, you know, it's great to talk with you. I think you should reach out to John Bob. And then we meet a week later and I'm like, oh, did you reach out to them? Like, oh, no, I didn't do it. I was. And so like, you start like, okay, well, like, I'm trying to give you ideas and suggestions. And so like, following through with the things that you say you're gonna do is really important. And, you know, time management and asking help where you need it, that's huge. Science. No, science. Asking help where you need it is. That's the quickest way to wherever you're headed.

Let me ask this toupage. Thank you for this because that irritates me as well. When I tell. I'm sitting there texting them like, hey, man, I got this person come in and they're all excited to mentor someone. And then you call them, oh, I just got busy.

You didn't get busy.

You got on tiger, right?

Communicating. Yeah.

Yeah. So growing up, for me personally, so I began to love, like, chemistry and physics and things like that. Right. But. And I played football, and I was afraid to say, like, I had a love for chemistry and physics. Got to college, I still had that love for that stuff, but I was afraid to say it. I think one of it was skin color. One of the other part was being athlete, like all this type of stuff. How can we. And what are things that you would even say to break through the stigmas of being in your field and being a scientist? Because I just. I just remember growing up like that. Right. And I wish I loved studying and reading and, like, trying to figure things. I loved that. But then it was just, well, I play football and like, why you. Why you love going to lab or why you love doing this? How can we break through those stigmas for people who have a passion like you have and care about this and something awakens inside of you in your field.

Yeah. So. Well, okay, so what I'll say is I think a lot of the onus right now has to be on those supporting the students who are interested in those things. So, yes, there's a level of the students being willing and able to be vocal about the things that they're interested in. And then the follow up to that is, you know, you don't know where you're going as a young student. And so being able to have mentors and people who will support them along the way, whether they look like them or not. And I think that comes from, you know, teachers in the classroom and noticing that there's a student that has an inkling or like, it's just really good at picking up the concepts that are being learned and kind of finding opportunities for them to continue to grow in that area. And then on the college level, I think particularly for students of color, a lot of it is people taking the time to guide them towards opportunities that will expand their knowledge, the student steps. And so that's not always on the student. And so part of why I like the role that I'm in is because I have now got a little bit further. When I do see those students, being able to pull them aside and be like, hey, you know what? You should apply for this or let me nominate you for that, and that kind of sponsorship and. Or just being willing to encourage them in that direction is huge. Is huge, huge. So there's a lot of, like. Like I said, there's. There's so many programs out there, paid programs, like, for students to get paid to learn how to do more of what they're interested in. It's just a matter of them being able to find them either by themselves or with the help of others. And so, yeah, yes, speak up as students or as young people about the things that you're interested in. But then, yeah, some of that is going to be on parents, on teachers, on those who see that in them, encouraging them and helping them find opportunities that can nurture that.

Yeah. Wow. Thank you, Paige. Thank you for that. What advice, then, for where you are right now? Right. So what you're doing, the season of life that you're in and all the things that are going on in your life and everything. What is the best advice that you're receiving or best advice that you're owning right now that you're applying in your life?

Yeah. Do stuff. Afraid. Yeah. I have always been someone who's like, I want to get it just right before I take it to anybody, show it to anybody, do anything. And so being willing to ask for opportunities to speak or be on a podcast, I didn't ask for this one, but I am grateful. But just being willing to put myself out there, even if sometimes I doubt myself a little bit doing it, being okay with doing that in fear, because I know that I have something to offer, and my heart is that I can reach more students, what have you. So I think being okay with operating in fear is a big thing for me right now.

Wow. Okay. Awesome. Thank you, Paige. Thank you for your time. This was awesome, you guys. I pray you guys were blessed by this. I think Paige is a gift not just to the body of Christ, but also to the world. And I think I pray you guys hold on to this and that, all of you. So, Paige, we have a number of engineering students and from Brown University at our church, as well as from PC and from Johnson and Wales, too, so it's just really cool to see that. And there have been things we've been talking about, about doing just, like, as I'm trying to imagine the future about augmented reality, artificial intelligence.

Like, it's really cool.

And so it's just really great to have them. And that's why I thought you'd be a blessing beyond because, like, you've been successful at what you do. And I pray you guys are blessed by Dr. Page. So, Paige, how can someone get in contact with you using social media or anything like that if wanted to follow up with you and all of that?

Yeah. So the best way to reach me via email is Paige P A I G E Cooper C O O P E R at Duke Edu. And then I am on social media. I would say Twitter is where I spend most of my time and, like, have some tips or like pass along programs and stuff like that. And I am@hanginwith Dr. Well, hanging with Dr. C. I'll have to. Yeah, clearly I'm not good at shouting out my own little hashtag. That's fine. Yeah. Hanging with Dr. C is my. Is my handle on Twitter. And that's typically where I'm passing along information. So those are probably the two best places, email and Twitter.

Well, thank you guys for joining us on this conversation between me and Paige Cooper. I pray you guys are blessed immensely by who she was, what she shared and what she encouraged you to be. This week. We'll say our affirmations and go on about our week next week. I'm super excited to have the CEO of Inquire hire Sister Ashley Choir to be our special guest on next Monday. So please definitely join us next Monday as we dive deeper and continue to move our movement in learning and gleaning from beautiful, wonderful, our black sisters. I'm so happy to have them and I pray there's something that said and pushes you to be all that you possibly can be. This week. Will you say affirmations with us? Just simply repeat after me. Say, I am me. I can be me, and no one will stop me from being me. You have a wonderful Monday. You were made for this. Mondays don't own you. You own your Mondays. Now go in. God bless you.