My Experience as a CSB Mentee
By Sergio Gonzalez—
As the fall semester of 2013 approached, I was excited to immerse myself in all the opportunities UST had to offer. Being a freshman, I was slightly overwhelmed at all the interesting clubs and organizations that where competing for my attention. Luckily, my older sister was there to orient me and advise me on the opportunities that would best benefit me as an aspiring business student.
GOOD ADVICE
Her first piece of advice was to sign up for the Cameron School of Business Mentorship program. As I inquired about this program, I saw its flyers used words slightly intimidating at the time; words like networking and resume help. This caused me to hesitate a little, but my sister was adamant about joining and besides, nowhere in the application did it say that freshmen could apply, so I went ahead and applied.
MEETING MY MENTOR
To my surprise, I was accepted, and I soon found myself in the opening meeting. As I looked around the room, I saw the attendees were very clearly either alumni who where there as mentors and upper-classmen who were the mentees. Needless to say, I felt like a fish out of water. As the meeting proceeded past the introductions and formalities, we were soon paired up with our mentors. Luckily for me, I found my mentor to be very professional, kind and not at all let down by the fact my resume was less than impressive.
MENTORING
Throughout the semester, we met for coffee and discussed possible career choices. We also set some goals, both academic and non-academic. My mentor also gave me resume help. He showed me what recruiters were looking for and explained to me how to best tweak my resume to fit the needs of each industry. Best of all, however, was the first hand experience he shared with me about the path to building a successful career. He told me about his own personal mistakes and how he turned them into strengths and also about the things he had done right.
CONCLUSION
Few other opportunities have given me such a clear glance at how a college education can turn into real-world tangible success. All in all, the CSB Mentorship program was far better than anything I could have hoped for. From resume help to networking, my mentor helped me get a better understanding of what it would take to become a success in the world of business.
Sergio Gonzalez
Cameron School of Business-Sophomore
University of St. Thomas