MBA Students and Alumni Gather for 5th Annual Alumni Mentor Program Kickoff

Students and alumni gathered together at the Smith School on Saturday, Oct. 6, for the 5th Annual MBA Alumni Mentor Program Kickoff. The MBA Alumni Mentor program is a key component of Smiths commitment to bringing real-world career experiences to current MBA students. Its stated purpose is to teach MBA students the value of lifelong networking and to serve as a catalyst for future business partnerships. The program provides the opportunity for students to expand career contacts and cultivate relationships with the over 500 active participants.

"The Alumni Mentor Program is one of the most dynamic hosts of student-alumni connections within the Smith School. Alumni mentors have been in the students' shoes and can best describe the business landscape to future alumni," said Valescia Lee-Collick, director of volunteer programs in Smith's Office of External Relations.

For first-year MBA students, the closing remarks delivered by Jean-Yves Van Halle, MBA '04, were especially resonant. Van Halle, the 2006-07 Mentor of the Year, co-chair of the MBA Alumni Mentor Program Steering Committee, stated that, If you want to get an internship next year, you have to start now.

Glenn Gargan 87, MBA 02, chair of the MBA Alumni Program Steering Committee, chats with first- and second-year student protgs outside of Frank Auditorium.

Following the general session, students and mentors attended cluster breakout meetings to discuss goals and begin planning cluster activities for the semester. Every mentor and protg belong to one specific cluster, which represents an area of interest for the protg and an area of expertise for the mentor. However, participants can get involved in activities or events led by other clusters. Following these breakouts, the entire group reassembled in Van Munching Hall's Frank Auditorium to hear student cluster coordinators provide two-minute reports of their clusters goals and projected activities.

Alumni mentoring is a wonderful idea, remarked first-year MBA student Shirin Bansal. Mentors can help provide a better prospective of the job market, the protg's prospects and a greater understanding of the field. To quote John C. Crosby, 'Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.'

The next MBA Alumni Mentor Program event is the "Fall Happy Hour," scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at Rumors, 1900 M Street NW, Washington, D.C. For further information on the MBA Alumni Mentor Program, please go to: http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/alumni/mentor.

▓ Pete Baird, MBA Candidate, Class of 2009, Smith Media Group