K-Staters,
It’s crazy to think that it’s already the latter half of October. In a month, we’ll have time off for Fall Break and in two, it’ll be Winter Break – let that settle in for a moment!
As many of you know, one of the platform issues that Jake and I ran for office hoping to enact if elected was the idea of greatly increasing the professional mentorship opportunities available to students. We were inspired by the College of Business Administration’s innovative Executive Mentorship program. Currently, CBA students can get involved with the program and be assigned a mentor – someone out in the real, professional world with ten or more years of experience in their desired career path. Students and mentors communicate at least once a month, sharing advice on internships, careers, and transitioning from college to the world beyond.
Jake and I have always believed that all students at K-State should have the opportunity to grow personally and professionally through similar mentoring relationships. In today’s world, it’s inadequate to merely have a degree or a decent G.P.A. Those things, plus a sound ability to interview, strategic connections, and people skills to skillfully interact with a broad range of individuals have become necessary to succeed. K-State should provide these opportunities; it’s an idea that aligns flawlessly with K-State 2025 and the student-services nature of our campus.
We’re working hard to make our vision a reality. In recent weeks, we’ve developed a statistics and research-based proposal that we’ve presented to the Deans of each academic college at a monthly Dean’s Council meeting and through numerous one-on-one meetings. We have a number of promising meetings to discuss the specifics of such programs in the near future, like a meeting with the College of Human Ecology Alumni Advisory Council this Friday. University progress is often slow, but we’re working in earnest to provide professional mentorship opportunities to more and more K-Staters, and feel confident we’ll have substantial progress to show by the Spring semester. Stay tuned for further updates on the topic!
Keep pushing on through the semester, and Go Cats!
Eli Schooley
Student Body President