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MALIBU, Calif. — Building Waves, Pepperdine athletics’ professional development program for student-athletes, has successfully completed the inaugural year of its mentorship program in 2023-24. After overwhelmingly positive feedback, the program will continue in 2024-25.
The Building Waves Mentorship Program paired ambitious current student-athletes with accomplished Pepperdine athletics alumni to help clarify career interests, network with alumni, and increase their confidence in their professional abilities. For alumni, the program offered an opportunity to contribute to the continued success and legacy of Pepperdine athletics and the professional success of the next generation of Waves.
By pairing current Waves with Waves alumni, this program allowed current student-athletes to tap into the wealth of experience and insight that the alumni who competed on the same courts and fields, studied in the same classrooms, and graduated with similar aspirations. College athletes enter the job market with a vastly different-looking resume than their non-athlete peers, so understanding how best to leverage their unique identity, experience, and skillsets as Division 1 athletes is crucial. Through this program, Pepperdine alumni are able to offer that rare perspective and, in the process, forge new, genuine relationships with the Pepperdine athletics community.
With two Building Waves cohorts — one in the fall and one in the spring semester — the program made 25 mentorship pairings with students from nine different teams. The student-athletes majored in everything from biology, to business administration and many disciplines in between. The first cohort kicked off in August 2023 after a competitive selection process identified driven student-athletes to take part in the program. Response from the alumni community was strong: Waves graduating from 1979-2018 stepped up to offer their time and expertise.
Pairs were encouraged to meet as often as possible with the frequency and mode of contact completely up to the individuals. Whether meeting on FaceTime or meeting up for a coffee, mentors and mentees discussed everything from resumes to industry insights, to their best Pepperdine memories. Through the program, mentors connected student-athletes with job leads, internship opportunities and valuable industry contacts.
Pepperdine athletics alumni interested in becoming mentors for the Building Waves program can fill out this form, while current student-athletes who wish to join the Building Waves program can fill out this form. For more information, please contact program coordinator Erin Carroll at [email protected].
Program Testimonials
Martin De Chavarria, Men’s Volleyball
“I spoke to Sean Grubbs (’11, men’s volleyball) and he was extremely helpful! His career and recruiting advice had a great impact on me. He took a lot of time off to help me, and he also got me an interview at his company. Thanks for the connection!”
Johnathan Flint, Men’s Cross Country/Track
“What was abundantly clear to me going into my senior year was how underprepared I was for finding full-time work. If I could have had even an hour with my mentor earlier in my college career, it would have been completely game-changing, as far as how I approached internships and applying for jobs as an athlete. It doesn’t have to be one-on-one or even a long-term program. I learned more in an hour-long conversation with an alum working in the industry than all the internet searching I had done up until that point. In the long run, you will be so much less stressed, and it will be significantly easier to focus on your sport.”
Sterling Parker, Women’s Volleyball
“I loved my experience with Building Waves. My connection with my mentor was so incredible. She helped me not only with tips for success in interviews but also connected me with so many others in the industry who helped me eventually get my next job! I totally recommend this to anyone who wants to connect with incredible professionals.”
Terah Parker (’13, Women’s Soccer alumna and Staff Perfusionist for cardiac surgery at UCLA Health)
“I found this experience to be truly humbling and rewarding. Although I was a student-athlete over 10 years ago, I felt like an older sibling who was able to relate to my younger sibling with very specific shared experiences. We often had mental health check-ins that not only helped her with overwhelming times, but also helped me ground and center myself. I found it rewarding to support a student-athlete because she could rely on me for help in any capacity (school, work, future plans, mental health, etc.) In turn, I was able to look back at my time at Pepperdine fondly and even address/work through issues I still have these many years later. I hope to continue to help/inspire young Waves and think any and every alumnus will enjoy doing the same.”
Source link : https://pepperdinewaves.com/news/2024/7/31/general-building-waves-mentorship-program-completes-first-year.aspx
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Publish date : 2024-07-31 23:31:35
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