Saying Good-bye…

Several years ago while working at a college I had the opportunity to work on team to develop a mentors program. We developed a website where the students could log onto to sign-up for a mentor, we recruited members from both the private and public sector, such as attorney, physicians, bank managers, marketing directors, human resources managers, just to name a few.  The programs was designed to match the students’ career goals with a person who was working in the same career or possibly even retired.  For instance if we had a student who was interested in a career as an attorney or a pediatrician then that student would be assigned a mentor in those particular career fields.  Several of the mentors were fellow alumni’s of the college and often recommended and recruited other professional colleagues or friends to join the mentor association.  I had the privilege of working with a pretty outstanding group of people, some of which up to this day, we still keep in contact with one another.  Letting and saying goodbye was very hard, because of the close relationships that were developed over the course of the year while implementing the program.  The great thing about the mentor association is that each year a banquet is held for students, their mentors, and the founding committee, the president of the college and other dignitaries and members of the community to celebrate and to close out another successful year.  Many of the students continue to a close bond with their mentors well after graduation and into their adult lives.