MENTERnopolis Event with Opportunities and Inspiration
When students go to school, they seek education and personal development, but they should also seek opportunities. On 26 April, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. many students gathered to attend the mENTERnopolis gala/event that took place within the student lounge.
There were many students who were interested or considering studying law or business for their university-level education so they could pursue a career in those fields. They all sent their applications to hopefully be part of the lucky selected individuals to join the Marianopolis Commerce Mentorship Program organized by its committee with Jacqueline DeStefano as its principal executive.
The program allowed every student to be paired with a mentor who has studied and has a career similar to what the student is interested in (business or law). Some were family lawyers, paralegals, managers, business founders, and general attorneys, and what was more beneficial for the student was that every mentor was an alumnus (previous student) who attended Marianopolis College, allowing better communication and knowledge about the opportunities available even at the establishment.
Students could have an online meeting regularly with their mentors and have a thoughtful conversation about their plans, what job they could look for, and what they could accomplish and do once at university, all the better to help them prepare for their upcoming years in college.
The program’s event was organized to celebrate the end of the 2021-2022 academic year and program with its mentors and mentees. It allowed the students to meet in person with their mentors and discuss together in groups around tables after the introductory speech was made by Jacqueline DeStefano.
Despite the evening being hosted by the MCMP committee, it worked closely with the Marianopolis Silver Key a student organization that functions as an embassy to represent the establishment.
While the event seemed to work as a closing ceremony for the program, it worked as an opening door for new opportunities for attending students. Ms. DeStefano quickly interrupted the evening to introduce a special guest for the evening, Yolande James.
Lawyer and mediator Yolande James made an inspirational and encouraging speech about her journey to become the first black woman elected to Quebec’s national assembly in 2004 and the first person from the Black community appointed to a Government of Quebec cabinet position when she was named Minister of Immigration and Cultural Communities in 2007. She now is the General Manager of Diversity and Inclusion at Radio-Canada. As part of her accomplishments, identity, and passion, she made clear during her speech that she believed in inclusion, and she presented a new opportunity for students, and it was the Bishop’s forum.
The Bishop’s Forum (official website: https://bishopsforum.ubishops.ca) is a 5-day long English-speaking program taking place in person on Bishop’s University campus in Sherbrooke during the summer (August 12 to August 17 this year of 2022). The students could push their leadership skills, expand their network, and allow them to gain more knowledge in commerce/business and law (majorly public policy), giving students an advantage before starting their studies at university.
As the evening ended, the final verdict for the event was “successful” after all the mentees could attend the meeting, and the number of mentors who made it to the evening was higher than expected since the pandemic made it more difficult for them to come to Montreal (many of the mentors were from Toronto, Ottawa, and New York City). Great exchanges were made, and the students left the mENTERnopolis gala with more excellent knowledge to pursue their passion in commerce or law.
