Senior Emily Katz, event coordinator at Hillel, described her supervisor Hillary Zaken as a “ray of sunshine and color.” She, and the close to 50 other senior student employees present at the supervisor appreciation dinner, talked about how much of an impact her supervisor had on both her Elon experience and life in general. Students had the opportunity to invite their supervisors, who for many of them were someone they’ve worked closely with during their time at Elon.
“I love her so much,” Katz said. “Hillary is someone that I can say is absolutely authentically herself, always.”
Another student employee, Lauren Whyte, said her mentor, Shereen Elgamal, is someone who she looks up to more than anyone else on campus.
“My mentor and my best friend in the whole world is perfect in every way,” Whyte said. “From on campus jobs to off campus jobs, post-grad opportunities — this woman has been my biggest supporter the entire time. She's taught me how to be compassionate.”
Nancy Carpenter, assistant director of career service for student employment created this event. Rene Jackson, the associate director of career services for graduate school programs and director of the PACE program, attended the event and said her favorite part each year is hearing what students have to say about their supervisors.
“I do want to say right off the bat that this is my favorite event of the year,” Jackson said. “It's so heartwarming to hear … Every year somebody cries and sometimes it's me, you know as I sit there and listen. It's really touching to hear the impact that all of you have on the students that work with you.”
Carpenter organized this event and said it is important to her to recognize the importance of mentorship and the relationship between students and supervisors — namely because a number of students begin their on-campus jobs freshman year.
“This is a relationship building thing and many of our students work for the same department for four years,” Carpenter said. “There's just an opportunity for a real deepening of relationship and real integration of other parts of the Elon experience into this space. It can be a real context-rich environment for not only relationships, but for professional and personal development.”
The keynote speaker Maureen Vandermass-Peeler, professor of psychology and director of the center for research on global engagement, said that mentorship is something that Elon is looking to strengthen even more.
According to Vandermaas-Peeler, Elon has begun work with the American Council on Education on a learner success lab — a two-year collaborative project with nearly 15 faculty members working to improve mentorship. Elon is one of 10 Universities in the nation to be a part of the program.
“These connections are what I believe is one of the most important parts of student employment here on campus,” Jackson said. “These connections change lives.”