Duck to Duck Mentoring
This fall, the Student Alumni Association (SAA) is very excited to launch our Duck to Duck mentoring program to current SAA members. During and after their time at UO, this mentoring program will allow SAA members to search a database of successful UO alumni to find a match that may help them along their journey to becoming great Ducks. As an alum myself, I have been excited to provide insight and wisdom about my time at UO and my journey after graduation in 2005.
Knowing that I may have helped a student find their passion or help them to take advantage of all that the UO has to offer is one of the best parts of my job. I know that as a freshman I would have liked to speak to alums that came into UO not knowing exactly what they wanted to do in school and to find out about interesting classes and ways to get involved. Also, as I neared graduation I was lucky enough to have a UO alum to speak with to talk about the job market and what life is like outside of UO. This relationship allowed me to gain the skills and knowledge I needed to begin my career path.
The SAA is now nearly 2,000 members strong, and to be able to offer mentors to all of our members, we need to fill the pipeline with Duck alums. Currently we have just over 50 mentors in our database and we hope this number grows exponentially. We want alums that participated in Teach for America to the PeaceCorps, alums that may have taken awhile to find their careers or might still be searching. There are no right or wrong mentors, just fabulous Ducks!
The time commitment is up to you, whether you’d like to mentor just via e-mail or if you’d like to meet with students in person. You also get to decide how many students you mentor and can turn off your mentoring availability if your life takes you down a busier path at any point.
Pay it forward to future Duck generations and become a Duck to Duck mentor by visiting here. If you haven’t yet signed up for an account, click on “First Time User” and you’re on your way.
–Regan Middleton-Moreland ’05