Eye Opening and Valuable

As a junior Honors student, I took part in the Board of Overseers Mentoring Program in more than one way.

It was my good fortune to participate both as a student mentee in the program, and as the student assistant to Luke Buckman, the Honors counselor coordinating the program. Along the way I gained a greater appreciation for not one, but two career choices. While my official experience with Dr. Mary Gordinier was eye opening and valuable, working with Luke to organize the mentors before the selection process was also a learning adventure.

Honors student assistant Clare Gervasi Kalb (Spanish), center, shares a laugh with Honors academic counselor Tony Robinson and Honors Program director Dr. John Richardson at an Honors events. As a student assistant, Clare worked with academic counselor Luke Buckman to organize the mentors before the selection process took place.

How was I able to follow a top doctor around for a whole school year? The mentoring program offers high-achieving juniors at U of L a hands-on taste of their chosen profession with the guidance of respected professionals. For example, those who are majoring in political science with the intention of becoming lawyers apply to be matched with an established attorney in the Louisville community. The attorney shows the student mentee the daily workings of practicing law, as well as a personal overview of what it feels like to perform the job. Pre-law as well as pre-med students participate in high numbers in the program; however, they are by no means the only curious students. The Board of Overseers has an array of capable and willing professionals who guide students in a multitude of occupational aspirations. Besides law and medicine, other professions requested included: broadcast journalism, ethics, electrical engineering, advertising and music editing.

Although a wide selection of mentors is available, there are a limited number of slots for student participation. The first 50 students to respond to an invitation to participate are accepted and matched with a mentor by the Board of Overseers. My interest was exploration of a career in medicine, so the board matched me with one of the doctors in the James Graham Brown Cancer Center's Gynecologic Oncology department. I met with Dr. Mary Gordinier more or less weekly throughout the school year, and she introduced me to other physicians and discussed with me my professional interests. Dr. Gordinier was very open and honest with me about the excitement as well as the responsibility that accompanies her job. She also shared her own educational and professional path that eventually led to medical specialization and a position at U of L's medical school.

Participation is a yearlong commitment, a considerable amount of time for both the students and their busy mentors. The generosity and philanthropy of the community professionals, and determination, diligence and consideration on the student's part are evident. The success and enduring popularity of the program are testaments to how worthwhile this commitment is for both parties.

Dick Wilson, a member of the Board of Overseers, president of UBS Paine-Weber, and a mentor himself, agrees. About 15 years ago, Andy Arnold was a mentee of Wilson's, and now he's one of his partners. Wilson says of his involvement in the program: “It gives us an opportunity to develop long-term relationships with you, the students. It's a gifting of yourself and there's really no better way to do it. I can't think of a better way to encourage youth than through this program.”

I’ve been working weekly at Yew Dell Gardens, a nonprofit garden in Crestwood. My mentor is Dr. Paul Cappiello, the executive director at Yew Dell. Each week is different; I may be weeding, planting, stratifying seeds or helping to organize for educational events. There is some overlap between what I’ve learned about horticulture and what I learn in my biology classes; however, there are valuable lessons in learning about how nonprofit organizations function and other practical experiences that simply can’t be taught in the classroom.

--Haylee Ralston, biology with an ecology focus

Wilson has been involved for 20 years in various mentoring programs, and has provided students a reservoir of guidance and information. “My role as a mentor is to encourage a mentee in their career, and in some situations, perhaps direct them toward a career that might be a little more meaningful. By giving them a real world overview of brokerage, I've managed to save [some students] long hours of heartbreak.”

This first-person view of a career can be invaluable to the student. I learned so much from Dr. Gordinier by going on rounds with her, attending physicians' meetings and talking to her during the occasional tête-à-tête. I also discovered through the experience that it was perhaps more job than I wanted to sign up for. This was important for me to realize before spending innumerable hours and dollars preparing for medical school and beyond. I gleaned so much from my experience in the program -- not only the details of medical practice, but equally as important, I gained a tangible respect for the role of the physician in a way I would not otherwise have been able to appreciate. In other words, I think I accomplished the goal outlined by mentoring program coordinator Luke Buckman. According to Luke, “the best thing about the program is letting students discover things about themselves. We are not looking for students as receptors of information; we are looking for them to examine themselves from an active perspective. The student has to be able to take the info the mentor gives and do something with it; it's a reciprocal relationship.”

The Mentoring Program is a microcosm of all the things I love about the Honors Program: it's a great opportunity to learn something worthwhile and interesting; it's presented in a unique way; there is plenty of room for independent decision making; and it's so easy to participate. The program is, as Dick Wilson says, simply “way too much fun.”