On October 26, 2018, Temple PRSSA held its first mentorship event of the fall 2018 semester. In the spirit of Halloween, it was “Spooky Season” themed, with pumpkin painting, tons of candy and Halloween movies. Just days beforehand, mentor and mentee pairs went out, so this was the first time pairs were meeting in person. We had around 18 attendees-a great turnout for a Friday night! Thank you, everyone, who joined the program and was able to make it.
Check out some pictures from the event below!
Mentorship is one of the three pillars Temple’s PRSSA chapter stands for, along with leadership and networking. It can be an intimidating concept at first, especially if you are new to the program or major. For some people, it can seem like such a foreign concept. I remember when I heard of the mentorship program I had a couple of questions: What would you talk about? What do you do with each other? Are you even allowed to casually hang out? Is it a friendly relationship or professional? Is it even worth it, since we’re technically all still young adults?
If you ask any professional-PR related or otherwise-I guarantee almost all of them will suggest having a mentor is beneficial. It can be a formal thing, or not; it all depends on what you want. Like anything, you get out of it what you put in. For instance, you can have a mentor that you only get in contact with when you need advice on something, but that isn’t beneficial for either of you. Yes, they are there to help you, however, they’re not a fortune telling machine you can stick a quarter in and then walk away from when you’re done. If you’re going to get a mentor, you should be serious about it and build a relationship! Don’t think that there is ever a question you can’t ask your mentor either. I remember I used to ask mine everything from, “What classes do I take next semester?” to “What do I wear to this interview?”. She was only one year older than me, but she had a lot of knowledge to bring to the table. We got the opportunity to get to know each other throughout the rest of her collegiate career, sometimes complaining about life, stuffing our faces at Maxi’s or talking about post-graduation life. Now she’s graduated and completely killing it at her new job!
If anyone ever has any questions about the mentorship program, how to become a mentor or about anything Temple related in general, don’t hesitate to contact me! Even if you didn’t have a chance to sign up for the mentorship program, the executive board is still here as a resource to you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out!
This blog post was written by Lailumah Faisal, Director of Mentorship.