Senior, BME student Mollet anticipates group and one-on-one connections in new facet of Mentees & Mentors Program in Indianapolis
Carissa Mollet was stressed about organic chemistry.
She vented about an upcoming test to a friend and mentor who was a year ahead of Mollet, Pearl-Marie Andoh (BSBME ’25). By the time they were done chatting, Mollet was no longer anxious about the difficult exam she would be taking that week.
Andoh’s wise words became a staple in Mollet’s advice to mentees in the Mentees & Mentors (M&M) Program and her Women in Engineering (WiE) Program peers, especially classmates studying biomedical engineering: "I’m not going to lie, that class is difficult. But you’re going to make it through and pass the class.”
Mollet had heard similar motivational advice from previous mentors and peers about finding internships, growing in jobs, tackling other courses and navigating Indianapolis. She learned a lot through chats full of laughter, personal stories and shared class experiences.
Conversations kept Mollet grounded and positive, no matter how she felt about a test, a presentation, an experiment or a social outing. These mentors and mentees were a community she could laugh and cry with, no matter the occasion.
That spirit of positive camaraderie is what Mollet, now a senior, seeks to bring to M&M through a new facet of one-to-one mentorship being introduced this fall.
“We’re focusing on everyone having someone that they can talk to and be that person for another student,” Mollet said. “We want to give every student a chance to have one-on-one interactions not only with other women in engineering, but others specifically in their field (when possible) to learn from their experiences.”
The paired mentorship experience pairs new students with mentors, sophomores through seniors, to guide them through the Purdue Engineering experience. Assistant director for WiE in Indianapolis Beata Johnson (BSChE ’16, MSME ’24, PhD ENE ’24) led the introduction of M&M in the fall 2024.
Mollet began participating in WiE events in August 2024 — the inaugural month of Purdue University in Indianapolis — and joined the M&M leadership team in January 2025. She helped reveal the 2025-26 academic year’s meeting theme over the summer, “snapshots,” and will facilitate group conversations and one-to-one connections within M&M in the fall.
“Snapshots” encourages WiE students to document the year’s experiences — academic, professional and social — to reflect on, learn from and enjoy during and after their time at Purdue. WiE students will receive journals to house their snapshots at the fall semester ice cream social on Sept. 3 in Indianapolis. Especially for those in M&M’s smaller, new paired setting, having a journal to dissect their experiences proves crucial for learning and reflecting with their mentors and on their own.
“Everyone, including their own mentor, has felt like they don’t know what’s going on at some point or time,” Mollet said. “Knowing that a mentor has been there and isn’t going to judge you for things that we did ourselves, it’s comforting and empowering. We were all new to Purdue once.”
Students interested in M&M should complete the interest form found on the Women in Engineering Program website. Sign-up is open until Aug. 29 for students in Indianapolis.
