The Mentor Program
Participating in the Law School’s Mentor Program for the past three years has been a really positive and memorable experience for me, and it is one aspect of my law school life that I will really miss after graduation. Taking part in the program not only enabled me to gain some great insight that has proven to be invaluable, it has given me the opportunity to give something back, which is even more important. Because I feel that I owe a great deal of my success, not just in law school but in life, to the program, I want to take a few minutes to fill you in on my experience with the program.
General Overview of the Program
The Mentor Program, which is coordinated by the Dean of Students, commences at the beginning of each year in August. The program is completely voluntary. If you decide to join the program, you need to fill out some paperwork in the first few weeks of school describing yourself (goals, personal info, etc.) and about a week after you turn in the paperwork, the Dean assigns each first year student with a mentor, either a 2nd or 3rd year law student. Generally speaking, the school does a really nice job of matching students with similar interests and goals, so there’s a really good possibility that your mentor relationship will turn into a good friendship—this is what happened in my case.
The idea of the program is to help first year students make the transition to law school by matching them up with successful 2nd or 3rd year students that they can go to for advice and guidance. The nicest thing about the program is there are no set standards, no pre-determined meetings, and no mandatory guidelines/rules—you get to decide how much you want to utilize your mentor as a resource. Your mentor will already have made it through first year exams, applied for jobs, and struggled with figuring out how to balance school and life outside of school, so you can get some really great advice if you just ask for it.
My Personal Experience with the Mentor Program
In the first couple weeks of school (my first year) things were so busy that I almost decided not to get involved with the program. I figured that it would take up time that I just didn’t have and that it would just be one more responsibility to add to my ever growing pile of “things to do.” However, looking back, I can tell you that choosing to participate in the program was one of the best moves I made in law school.
I was pretty nervous my first semester, I felt like I had a never ending list of questions, and I was never quite sure if I was on the right track with things—this is where having a mentor to bounce ideas off of really came in hand. Just to give you an idea of how I used the program—I met with my mentor as soon as he was assigned to me and we decided to set up a weekly meeting time (in between class) when we would get together so I could ask questions. Talk about a great guy, I can’t fully describe how much my mentor helped me out with both school and life in general, but I can tell that he really bent over backwards to help me succeed. Not only was he a great law school mentor, he turned out to be a great friend outside of school. My fiancé and I actually got to know him and his wife pretty well—and we still get together regularly even now that he has graduated and is out in the working world. I actually just bought my first house last week on the East Side of Providence, and not only did he set me up with a great realtor and give me good advice about buying a home, he was there to help us through every step of the home buying process (inspections, insurance, finding a lawyer, etc).
After finishing up first year exams; I realized how much the program had helped me and that I wanted someone else to have the same opportunity. So, for the past two years I have served as a mentor to several first year students and while it’s often tough to make time in my busy life to be available, sacrificing the time is well worth it. It’s truly rewarding to see someone take the advice you give them and really run with it and succeed. One student that I am working with this semester did just that and it’s just a great feeling to know that I have been to help someone else reach their goals.
Although, I will no longer be serving as a mentor next year, I urge prospective students to consider signing up for the program—it’s a great opportunity!
