By Franc Romanowski
Staff Writer
Students of the Campus to Capitol Mentorship Program connected with their fellow peers and mentors as the program kicked off its seventh year with a party on Feb. 4 in Trenton Hall.
The program, which accepted 12 students this year — the most in its history — pairs undergraduate students with alumni working in government or public policy, preparing the students for a career in those fields. This was the first year students outside of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences could participate.
Each student met one-on-one with their mentor, the first time many of them had met each other in-person. As more students and mentors arrived, the one-on-one meetings turned into larger group chats, where students and mentors formed circles around tables and talked to one another, slowly opening up about their interests and lives before conversations flowed like everyone knew each other.
Networking with others and what can be learned from those connections is one of the key reasons some students chose to apply to the program.
Hope Margarum, a senior international studies major, told The Signal she applied because the program will allow her to make connections, and will assist in her career prep and job search.
For a similar reason, Owen Konowicz, a junior political science major, said he wanted to be part of the program to form connections, which he believes “doesn’t happen enough on campus.”
The mentors, reflecting back on their own time at the College, see the importance of the program and their role as guides for their mentees.
“As an alumni, I feel like it’s kind of your job to give back to the institution and be able to help students,” said Jessica Rueb ‘20, a research analyst for the New Jersey Office of Legislative Services. “You remember being in their shoes, and you remember applying for jobs and you remember trying to network. And I always wish that I had had more people who had helped me.”
Another mentor, Tre Scott ‘23, who works for a lobbying firm in Trenton, told The Signal he wants to pass along his experiences to prepare students for their future career.
Over the course of the semester, the students will meet with their mentors for at least two hours every month, according to the Campus to Capitol Mentoring Program website. The students can collaborate with their mentors on anything from career advice to developing skills essential before applying for a job, and everything in-between.
The next time the group will get back together will be Feb. 18, where members of the program will head to the New Jersey State House to meet with government officials and staffers and receive a tour of the building, according to the program’s website.
