The Experience of a Lifetime

A convivial buzz hovered over the name tag table as people met, searched, greeted, and munched on brie and grapes. The young people arriving looked shy and headed to their tables. The older ones got waylaid, saying hello to friends and colleagues along the way to finding their seats. Soon all were happily chatting at the 2005 Liberal Arts Mentor Program kickoff dinner held on September 29 in the HUB Heritage Hall.

For the second year in a row, the dinner marked the official meeting of Liberal Arts alumni mentors and their new student “mentees” for the academic year. After a few remarks from Chris Gamble, assistant to the dean for alumni relations, attendees heard from a former mentee, Brenna Hassinger, who offered some helpful tips new students, including “don't badger your mentor, but remember to assert yourself,” and “don't sugarcoat anything; be honest.” Matthew Valkovic, another former mentee, offered a few tips for mentors: “Ask a lot of questions,” and “when in town buy your student lunch; we get really sick of tuna fish and pizza.”

At table 13, Dan Clements, a lawyer from Baltimore, met his mentee, Alexis Campbell, a senior with a major in letters, arts, and sciences. Clements has mentored several students over the years but with the exception of a long-ago lunch, Campbell is the only student he has actually met.

"An initial face-to-face meeting is much better,” he said, as he forked some lettuce from a salad. “When I was a student, my father arranged for me to meet with four lawyers. Learning about what lawyers actually do—because it can vary so much from practice to practice—is valuable information.”

Clements is especially helpful to his mentee as he has held a range of jobs within the legal profession. Growing up in New York, Clements says his decision to attend Penn State was due to having “one of the best conversations of my life,” with his high school social studies teacher, George Paterno, whose brother, the assistant head football coach, Clements had never heard of.

After earning his J.D. at George Washington University, Clements was a law clerk to a U.S. District Court Judge, and eventually landed in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Maryland as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.

“In that role, I tried sixty jury trials in five-and-a-half years,” he says. “It's important for young people to understand the differences in specialties when thinking about a career in law.”

Campbell, who hails from Reading, says that she is interested in environmental or criminal law and talking to Clements is helping her focus.

“It's really great to have someone help me get an idea of where I'm headed,” she explains. “I've never known any lawyers personally. Dan has such a breadth of experience, he can really offer terrific guidance.”

Jim Newell, also a lawyer, was quite impressed by the thought that went into the mentor/mentee matches; in particular, his mentee, junior Brandon Rothey.

“Sure, Brandon wants to be a lawyer, so of course we have that in common,” he says. “But we're very similar in our background and upbringing. That's pretty amazing.”

Newell is in charge of his firm's corporate bankruptcy department, which involves not only going to court quite frequently and negotiating financial settlements, but traveling around the country to present seminars and educational programs for other lawyers, clients, and consultants. Rothey, who decided upon a career in law while in high school, says that having someone who has experienced the career path personally is particularly helpful.

“Right now I'm waiting for my LSAT scores,” says Rothey. “When Jim heard that, he was immediately sympathetic because he could remember how difficult this time was.”

Newell, who graduated from Penn State in 1984 and earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1987, also provides an invaluable insight into what law firms are looking for in new hires: for the past five years he was the primary recruiter for his law firm, responsible for hiring a dozen or more new and lateral attorneys each year.

“Jim can make some great recommendations on what he thinks would be the best schools for me,” says Rothey, who wants to be a prosecutor. Newell didn't immediately attend law school, thinking he would eventually specialize in bankruptcy law, and can take the long view, demonstrating what a mentor is all about.

“In law school, and certainly before law school, we all thought we'd be criminal lawyers, or work in the U.S. attorney's office,” he recalls. “But life doesn't always turn out that way. When I was in law school, we were all glued to LA Law, which isn't exactly a realistic portrayal of the typical legal career.”

The two talk by phone every two weeks and intersperse that time with frequent e-mails. They're hoping to have lunch together in Pittsburgh over the upcoming holidays.

And speaking of lunch, Trish Aguer is having lunch next week with her mentee, Ben Hilberry. Although Ben, a psychology and economics major, is not sure what he will immediately do upon graduation this December, Aguer, a financial manager for Smith Barney, is thinking about what she can do to offer some guidance.

“Ben thinks that if he does pursue a career in financial consulting, he'd like to be more behind the scenes,” she says. “My job is much more public so I'm introducing him to people in various divisions within the company.”

Aguer, a “huge” Penn State fan, moved to State College from northern California in 2003, mainly for “quality-of-life” issues. A graduate in psychology in 1979, Aguer's first job out of school was in sales at Xerox, where she stayed for eleven years. In 1991, she decided she wanted a change and joined the global investment firm.

“I really enjoy talking to young people,” says Aguer. “When I was a student, I barely took advantage of any outside activities and I really regret it. I'd like to help crystallize for my mentee what he can do with his innate and learned skills to pursue a vocation that is truly a heartfelt interest.”

Hillman enjoys talking to someone who is helping him consider not just different career paths but his immediate future.

“It's really great to brainstorm ideas with someone in the field,” he says. “Trish has been very understanding and willing to help me, even in discussing my ideas of travel before I ‘settle down' into a career.”

The liberal arts mentor program is sponsored by the College's Alumni Society Board and has been coordinated by Board member Beverly Sobel-Redler. The program brings together approximately seventy mentor-student matches this year, and is part of the College's and the Board's ongoing commitment to extracurricular activities that enhance professional development and strengthen the bonds between today's students and alumni.

For more information, visit:
www.la.psu.edu/alumni/mentor.htm