February
13 ,
2004
Take
the Lead Invites Student Mentor Applications
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Mount Holyoke students wishing to hone
their leadership skills and work with some of the brightest and
most highly motivated young women high school students in the
country are invited to apply to become mentors in the College’s
Take the Lead program. Under the auspices of the Weissman Center
for Leadership and the Liberal Arts, Take the Lead will bring
a select group of high school juniors to campus for a four-day
leadership conference from September 30 through October 3. Now
entering its fifth year, the conference will include workshops,
activities, and guest speakers.
Each Mount Holyoke leadership mentor will receive special training and be paired
with a high school student based on shared interests. As part of the conference,
mentors will host Take the Lead students in their residence halls and accompany
them to some of their scheduled activities. During the conference, each Take
the Lead student will develop a project that addresses an issue of particular
concern to her. Past projects have dealt with issues including body image, arts
education, and seniors and the digital divide.
Mentors will work one-on-one with the students to develop projects and planning
strategies. After the conference, many mentors choose to keep in touch with their
students, continuing their supportive relationship via email. All mentors will
receive a gift certificate to the Odyssey Bookshop.
Mentors derive as many benefits from the conference as the high school students
do. “I had a wonderful experience being a mentor,” Jamie Monzo ’05
said. “It was so inspiring to see and hear so many young women who want
to change the world.” Nina Akerley ’04, who has been a mentor twice,
described the conference as “about helping others, helping myself to be
a stronger leader and inspiration to others.” She added, “It is
one of my most treasured experiences here on campus.”
Susan Pliner, associate director of the Weissman Center and director of SAW,
heads up Take the Lead’s mentor recruitment and training process. “I
am continually inspired and impressed by MHC students who become Take the Lead
mentors. They are amazing women who are creative, imaginative, inquisitive, encouraging,
compassionate, intelligent—and, most of all, leaders.”
How to Apply
All MHC students who will be on campus next fall and are committed
to developing their own leadership skills and those of others
are invited to apply to become a Take the Lead mentor. This
year, applications are available online at http://www.mtholyoke.edu/go/saw,
and students are strongly encouraged to use this convenient
method. Applications, which are due by February 27, are also
available and may be handed in at the SAW office in Room 102,
Porter Hall. Interviews will be held the first week of March.
Students will be notified whether they have been selected for
the program by mid-March. Fifteen alternates will also be chosen.
Those selected to become mentors and alternates are required
to attend a half-day training session September 18.
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