Mentoring Mondays offer way to make professional connections | LaGrange College

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Mentoring Mondays offer way to make professional connections
Feb. 1, 2011

In an effort to connect students with successful alumni and friends of the college, the SOURCE Center is sponsoring Mentoring Mondays throughout the spring semester.

SOURCE – an acronym for Student Opportunity, Undergraduate Resources and Community Engagement – is a new initiative that works as a student’s connection to all aspects of college life, said Todd Prater, SOURCE director.

“One of our goals is to facilitate relationships that will assist students in developing networks within the college community, as well as with alumni and local community members,” Prater said.

Mentoring Mondays will be a chance for students to meet various professionals to discuss opportunities after college and how to prepare for them.

“The expectation is that Mentoring Mondays will be the catalyst for more in-depth conversations with individual students throughout their academic careers and create relationships that will help them succeed in their professional endeavors,” he said.

The sessions will be from 3 to 5 p.m. every Monday in the SOURCE Center on the second floor of Smith Hall.

“We’ve planned these to be very casual, as a chance for students to connect with potential mentors,” Prater said.

Kimberly Martin, a certified public accountant, will kick off the series on Feb. 7. Other mentors scheduled for February include Michelle Bedingfield, Executive Director of Harmony House; Theresa Horton, a physical therapist with Ultra Care Inc.; and Susan Middlebrooks, a social worker at Burwell PsycoEducational Center.

Throughout the semester, Prater said he hopes to add more events in conjunction with Mentoring Mondays.

“We’re looking at offering a seminar or two that is linked to the profession of that week’s mentor,” he said. “We’re still ironing out the details, but we are excited about the possibilities and opportunities we feel we can offer our students. Our goal is to help prepare them for both professional and personal success, and we’re excited about that challenge.”