By Abby Bullock
Need some guidance for your future career? For several years now, Bellarmine has been able to provide an easy, accessible solution.
According to Bellarmine’s website, its Alumni Mentoring Program is one of the largest in-person mentoring programs in the nation and has existed for 14 years. The site also said it is “designed to give students a career mentor and dedicated advocate as they enter their career field.”
The program runs during every spring semester, and according to the Bellarmine Alumni Association, typical mentors spend 5 to 10 hours of their time supporting their mentees during this month-long program, with the experience taking place virtually or in person.
The process begins with students who have registered for the program receiving an email with the name of their assigned mentor about a week before the program kick-off. Students then meet their mentor at the event, and from there, students are expected to have a follow-up meeting with their mentor.
Before this semester’s event, students received an email from Jackie McNatt, the director of the Career Development Center, with the name of their assigned mentor on Feb 16, who also announced the amazing turnout for the program.
“[There are more than] 200 students who signed up to participate,” McNatt said in her email to students. “As you can imagine, we have been busy the past few weeks working on matches and recruiting mentors.”
Although there is a lot of work involved on Career Development’s side to match mentor to student, the process for students to sign up to be matched with mentors is very straightforward, with them being required to fill out only a five-minute survey where they give their general information and state what career they are interested in pursuing.
The mentor-mentee pairings are selected by hand by the Career Development Center and the Alumni Association staff, which try to give the interested students the best match possible. McNatt said when an exact match is not possible, mentees are joined with available mentors who have the most relevant experience.
Kaitlyn Jones, who signed up to be mentor, was more than happy to be one of those matches for a second time and guide a current Bellarmine student. “The first year [I participated] I had just graduated, so I was looking for ways to get back into the Louisville community,” she said. “This year I got the email, and I wanted to make more connections and be that person for someone else at Bellarmine.”
This semester, the kick-off where mentors and mentees finally meet was held on Feb 21. Frazier Hall was filled with both anxious and excited energy, with mentors and mentees so eager to meet each other face-to-face. The program began with a PowerPoint presentation to give mentees and mentors an idea of what they should expect out of the program, and then they were free to speak with each other at their assigned tables.
Going into this meeting, Jones said she already had a strong idea of what she wanted to get out her experience. “I just hope to be a support for my Bellarmine mentee and help them through navigating life because it can be tricky and give them any potential advice I have for them.”
Tanya Vergara-Gongora, a first-year student, was very excited for the networking opportunity. “The basis for this is networking,” she said, “And [to see] how my mentor can help me with applying for jobs, seeing how I can improve my resume, and seeing if she can connect me to job opportunities.”
McNatt said this is the first year the program has returned to an in-person form since 2019. “This is the first year we’ve come back in person since the pandemic, and we were doing it virtually,” she said. “That was great because it allowed our out-of-town alumni to participate, but there’s something about that energy of being in the room with your mentor and mentee.”
The Alumni Mentor Program welcomes all juniors, seniors, and graduate students from any major.
Laura Hartford, associate dean of the college of Arts and Sciences, said she encourages students to sign up for the program: “I think the Alumni Mentor Program at Bellarmine University is an amazing opportunity for students to meet professionals in the field who are dedicated to Bellarmine and dedicated to the success of our students.”
Comments