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Sources of Strength

Mentorship

Having a trusted mentor or role model can be extremely helpful, supportive, and empowering. A mentor offers support and guidance that can help us through our tough times and help us to fulfill our potential. An Elon University Poll found that graduates who had even just one to two faculty or staff mentoring relationships were twice as likely than students with no such relationships to rate their overall college experience as “very rewarding.” 

This cycle is often rewarding both for the mentor and the mentee! However, building these kinds of relationships can be difficult anywhere, especially on a big campus like UF.

Mentorship Programs

  • University Multicultural Mentor Program (UMMP) – UMMP is a mentoring program that matches a first-year undergraduate student with a faculty or staff mentor to assist with the student’s transition to college. This program makes a large university campus seem smaller as connections are made and mentors encourage our students to take advantage of all UF has to offer.
  • Alachua County Emerging Leaders – ACEL’s annual mentorship program connects existing leaders to emerging leaders in Alachua County. As an initiative of ACEL’s Professional Development Committee, the program was designed by a team that has worked on mentorship programs across the United States, combining best practices and structures from hundreds of mentorship programs.
  • Business Undergraduate Mentorship Program (BUMP) – Pairs one freshman, sophomore, or transfer student with a student leader that possesses a variety of experiences and knowledge in how to excel within the business school and beyond.
  • UF NaviGators – Mentorships between international students and American mentors make international students’ experiences in this country as fun and exciting as possible by giving them an insider’s glimpse into American culture through excursions, local events, intramurals, and more.
  • Mentorship and Career Networking for the College of Nursing – College of Nursing alumni mentors assist current students in exploring career options and providing networking leads and general advice. Mentors help students interested in finding employment in a particular city become familiar with the area and what it is like to work in a specific nursing-related career field.
  • CLAS Transfer Student Peer Mentoring Program – Peer mentors provide support and encouragement for new transfer students. Currently the program is limited to those majors in the Mathematics and Natural Sciences.
  • MentorGNV – Opportunity for University of Florida students to make a difference on and off of campus. Become a mentor for elementary, middle, or high school students one-on-one or in a group setting.

Reaching Out to Potential Professional/Research Mentors

If you’re having trouble getting started in finding a research project that interests you, check out the UF Center of Undergraduate Research website. They also offer peer advising if you’re interested in meeting with someone who can help you through the process. Our tips for getting started are below:

  • Find someone at UF or in Gainesville whose career you admire. Talk to people! Search the internet! The UF Center of Undergraduate Research suggests finding 10 researchers who study topics you are interested in and choosing your top 3 from those. Read one study from each so you have a specific topic of interest to reference in your email to them.
  • Compose an email to send to each of these individuals. Email suggestions are as follows:
    • Briefly describe your career aspirations
      • Mention your major and if you have grad school plans (areas of study, type of program).
      • Explain how the things they do fit into this.
  • Include at least one specific thing they do that you admire, and reference something specific from the study of theirs you read.
  • Ask if they are available to meet with you by phone or in-person to discuss these topics further.
  • Consider the work this person does to get an idea of what their schedule might look like. For example, if you are contacting a researcher who is constantly releasing new publications, they may not have time to meet in person. If you think this may be the case, first try reaching out to one of their graduate researchers.
  • If you do not receive a response right away, don’t stress! Wait a week and write a follow-up e-mail. The worst they can tell you is no, and UF is full of possibilities. Keep trying until you find what works for you.

Remember, reaching out to a research lab is only one potential way to gain a mentor. There are many other ways, such as those listed above!