Paying it Forward and Giving Back!
Just a few of the amazing Mentors for the WINGS Program, Rutgers University, NJ
Six years ago, I joined a wonderful group of senior colleagues as a mentor to young women. WINGS (Women Investing in and Guiding Students) is a Wells Fargo sponsored program and is a very successful college-to-career program at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. After my first year I was asked to assume the role of Co-ordinator. I was excited and honored and it turned out to be one of the most fulfilling roles I have been able to engage in and perform.
The program partners professional women with a sophomore, junior or senior female student who is accepted into the program for the academic year. It incorporates panel discussions, workshops (love and money-understanding credit was a favorite), career preparation activities as well as pre-arranged meetings for individual connections agreed upon by each Mentee and Mentor. Not only is this an opportunity for Mentors to share their expertise and give guidance, but it morphs into a “give and take” chance for both participators to learn from each other. Students are able to share their thoughts and talents with their mentors and broaden the perspective “according to millennials” through which the mentors view the world. It is eye-opening and rewarding and an absolute technological benefit for the mentors!!
Two years ago a volunteer event was added to the program whereby the whole group shared a few hours assisting at a food bank in NYC. Based on the feedback, it was one of the most impactful experiences in the program. Besides being productive, everyone shared that it was humbling, enlightening, rewarding, uplifting and life-changing!
We have hosted many talented, diverse and inspirational women at the opening and closing events. They shared their life-journeys and how they were shaped by many people and experiences. Each and every one of them added dimensions and learnings that the young ladies, and their mentors, could learn from and emulate!
I count myself fortunate to work with the amazing women in this program who share their own mentoring experiences and how much it impacted their professional and personal journeys. They listen, they ask questions, they are passionate, they are knowledgeable, they create belief and trust and as the relationships flourish with their mentees, they inspire and encourage. Strangers become friends, partners, collaborators, coaches and sponsors. In many cases these relationships endure the test of time where contact may diminish but is never lost.
I applaud these women! I am pleased to know them! I am grateful for the opportunity to work with them! I remain forever indebted to them! They truly inspire me and their actions prove that when you feel good about yourself you do good things, when you do good things you feel good about yourself.
Because of these ladies, I believe that we all have wings to fly and sometimes we just need a push in the right direction to reach the heights we are capable of achieving!