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Bridgette Robles finds her mentorship match through the new "select-a-mentor" track
Richmond Assistant Director of Athletic Public Relations Bridgette Robles has participated in CSC’s Mentorship Program three years. This year, she chose a pilot track for the programming – selecting her own mentor instead of having one assigned for her.
by Bridgette Robles – University of Richmond, Assistant Director of Athletics Public Relations @BridgetteRobles
This year is my third go-around signing up for the
CSC Mentorship program, as my former supervisor at the University of Richmond
Matt McCollester strongly encouraged participating. I’ve signed up each year both as a mentor and a mentee, and I was intrigued by the newest option of picking my own mentor. The committee does its best in pairing people every year, and I know they take it very seriously to set everyone up for a good fit.
I’ve always tried to go in with an open mind to this program in the past with the random pairings. Last year, I was paired with Utah’s
Ryan Gallant, a former SID of the A-10 and a familiar face on all the Young Professionals zooms. My other pairing wasn’t a good fit. It happens.
This year, I knew that I wanted to have a bit more say in my pairing, but I wasn’t sure how the committee was planning to execute this option.
Over the fall semester, I was paired with
Theresa Kurtz of the Mountain West Conference and chair of the Mentorship Committee. TK worked with me to fine-tune my goals, better understand where I am at in my career and helped me pinpoint who in the industry might pair well with me.
Throughout the process, Theresa listened to my concerns in finding the “right” person.
Thanks to being on a bunch of zooms with WoSIDA, plus in general being active in the industry, I had reached out to people I already considered mentors to see if I was overlooking someone. Maybe the SIDs I exercise with –
Amie Canfield,
Danielle Percival,
Sammi Wellman and
Kristen Keller – knew someone I should work with? To be honest, I bounce a lot of things off these ladies, so I tried to find someone who was a bit out of the mid-career trenches.
I am excited to say the person I reached out to, after I fangirled her in my initial email, accepted my ask of being my mentor. I really shouldn’t be surprised, as it’s rare when I’ve reached out to anyone in this industry that they’ve been unwilling to help a fellow SID out. My mentor for this semester is Auburn Assistant AD and CSC Past President
Shelly Poe.
I feel like I am getting a two-for-one deal, working one semester with TK and beginning this semester with Shelly as the mentor I selected. Although she did not sign up for the mentorship program this year, she graciously was willing to help me upon my request.
Participating in the mentoring program has been fun. I’ve continued to learn, meet a lot of cool people and build a wide-ranging network of friendships in our industry. I cannot recommend enough making the time to, at the very least, meet new people who understand what our industry is.
If you happened to miss the sign-up window for the structured mentorship program, I encourage you to continue to reach out to fellow SIDs with your questions, work related or not. We’ve got a very supportive group out there. I’m pretty confident if they can’t find the answer, they know someone who might.
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