Calling all Collegian alums, from news and business: Think about the work you’re doing right now. Now, think about your time at the Collegian. What do you wish you’d known then? Or what did you learn then that helped you — maybe in some unexpected way — once you graduated? Now, hold that thought.
We’re revamping the Collegian Alumni Interest Group mentoring program, and we’d love for you to be a part of it. If you think you might have some wisdom to offer today’s Collegianaires, and if you might be willing to spare a day in State College meeting with those students in a classroom setting back in the James Building, we (and the Collegian) could use your help. The time frame on this is flexible and can be adjusted depending on the demands of your schedule. What we really need right now are volunteers who might be interested in participating.
The goal of this new mentoring approach is to bring alumni directly into the newsroom for workshops or other conversations that would empower current students in their transition to life post-Collegian — ideally, they might be able to learn something they could apply to their work immediately.
This is entirely open-ended. Did you successfully navigate a transition from the Collegian to an internship to a job? Maybe you could lead a resume/job hunting session. Have you leveraged public records, digital tools or computer-assisted reporting to enhance your work as a journalist? Your expertise would probably be beneficial to the news staff. Or, have you translated what you learned while working on the business staff into a career in media sales, media management, public relations, advertising or elsewhere? The possibilities are wide-reaching, and we welcome pitches or participation from all interested alumni.
If you have an idea, or if you want to find out more information, please contact Adam Bittner (fugimaster240@gmail.com) and Casey McDermott (caseymmcd@gmail.com) to get the ball rolling.
