We, as successful minority scientists and engineers, need to improve how we foster and encourage one another's success and growth.

Taking things personally, whether it be comments on presentation style, experimental design, theoretical derivation, or some other area that we all--hopefully--negotiate and learn, is not an effective way to play the game.

Have aliens taken over my advisor's body and released him from emotional oblivion?

Unfortunately many of us get tripped up in the hurdles, because we lack preparation, confidence, test-taking ability, motivation ... not necessarily because we don't have potential as scientists.