Nominate a deserving student mentee
MSUM’s semester long Alumni Mentorship Program is the first program on any of the Tri-College campuses to connect alumni with current students. The program builds mentoring relationships, and mentors and mentees all have one thing in common: They are dragons.
Graduate assistant Jennifer Weil developed the program to keep past and present students connected. Mentor Warren Wiese said, “Mentoring is a very successful, proven method to use as part of a student’s education. It allows for a mutual sharing of information that is often vital to a student’s success and positive experience at MSUM.”
Mentor David Martin, a 1976 Health Physical Education and Recreation graduate is vice president of community relations and business development at Choice Financial in Fargo.
“Helping students make a connection with career opportunities and get a better understanding of certain fields is rewarding for students and professionals,” Martin said. “It connects the campus and community.”
Mentor David Martin and mentee Chayanne Haley discuss their agenda at the end-of-year social.
Interacting with professionals allows students to meet community leaders and MSUM alumni. Martin believes he gains valuable insight through his mentoring relationship with sophomore Charly Haley.
“Meeting students means we are also meeting future leaders,” Martin said.
For Haley, an aspiring reporter, the mentorship gives her an opportunity to learn beyond the classroom. “My mentor is in marketing, and I’m majoring in journalism, so it’s a chance for me to see a different side of the media,” Haley said. “It gives me another outlet through which I can learn.”
For sophomore Nathan Hollatz, having a mentor in his field of interest helped him discover a career direction.
“I’ve been thinking about getting involved in student affairs. When I found out Warren Wiese, MSUM’s vice president of student affairs, was my mentor he was able to give me advice and answer questions I wasn’t able to find online,” Hollatz said.
Mentors and mentees meet monthly, working around each other’s schedules meeting on or off campus.
Junior Chase Miller’s mentor Amy Iler, producer at KFGO, recommended him for a job. “She threw my name out with The Fan 90 AM radio, and I’ve already produced a couple NDSU and Fargo Force games,” Miller said. “She’s given me more than I thought I could get out of this program.”
To nominate a student for the Alumni Mentorship Program visit:
www.mnstate.edu/career/mentorship/forms.cfm