Unlocking Potential: How Montserrat’s Mentor Program Transforms Student Journeys

At Montserrat College of Art, we believe in empowering our students not just with artistic skill, but with the professional acumen and real-world connections needed to thrive in their careers. A cornerstone of this commitment is our highly successful mentor program, which consistently receives glowing feedback from our students. We recently reviewed mentee evaluations, and the insights shared truly highlight the invaluable impact these relationships have.

Our mentor program pairs students with experienced professionals in their chosen fields, offering a unique opportunity for personalized guidance, skill development, and crucial networking. The results speak for themselves.

Mentors: Accessible, Engaging, and Professional Guides

A recurring theme in student feedback is the exceptional quality of our mentors. Students consistently rate their mentors highly for being:

• Accessible and Available: Mentees frequently met with their mentors, finding the frequency and duration “about right,” whether it was weekly or every other week for 30-90 minutes. This consistent availability fosters a strong, reliable connection.
• Communicative and Punctual: Students overwhelmingly “Strongly Agree” that their mentors communicated regularly and were always on time for meetings, demonstrating professionalism and respect for the students’ time.
• Dedicated to Student Growth: Mentors are actively involved in helping students define and achieve their professional goals. As one mentee noted, their mentor helped with researching local job opportunities and working on specific artistic techniques, while another’s mentor made efforts to connect them with professional contacts and assist with job applications.

Tangible Skills and Expanded Networks

Beyond general guidance, the mentor program provides concrete, career-boosting benefits:

• Skill Enhancement: Students gain practical, industry-specific skills that directly relate to their aspirations.
  • One student learned to write a resume and cover letter, and how to set reasonable goals.
  • Another developed a professional website and business cards, and honed their self-marketing and professional communication skills.
  • A mentee in animation learned specialized software to a “near professional level” and gained insights into industry operations, including unions and studio structures, information not typically covered in a classroom setting.
  • Others gained expertise in making a proper portfolio and understanding how to network for internships.
  • Specific focus areas included Social Media Marketing, Branding, and E-Commerce.
• Professional Networking: The program actively connects students with the professional world. One student leveraged their mentorship to get involved with three different events and joined industry newsletters. Another was given numerous resources for organizations and online groups, and even a contact at a museum. Several mentees experienced direct introductions to professional colleagues, aiding their job application processes.

Empowerment Beyond the Classroom

Many students highlighted how the mentorship experience helped them navigate the transition from academia to professional practice:

• Real-World Perspective: One student appreciated learning that “the school way is far from actuality,” gaining invaluable insights into the realities of their industry from an active professional.
• Motivation and Confidence: One mentee shared, “I was struggling to find my motivation to work on art again and my mentor really helped and pushed me to become a better artist!” Another echoed this, stating their mentor “helped me grow my confidence as a maker and my practice as a whole.”
• Lasting Relationships: A significant number of students expressed a desire to “retain a positive relationship with my mentor and feel comfortable asking them for guidance after the official mentoring relationship is over.” This indicates the depth and trust built within these connections.

Overwhelming Satisfaction

The mentee evaluations consistently show high levels of satisfaction across the board:

• Most students rated their overall mentor and mentoring relationship as “Very Satisfied” (5.0 rating).
• The mentor match itself also received high praise, with many students feeling it was a perfect fit for their career aspirations.

As one student aptly put it, “Having a mentor is such a good asset to have as a student. It may not seem like it beforehand, but to have someone in the industry you can talk to and ask questions to whenever you need to is SO helpful!”

The feedback from our students unequivocally demonstrates that Montserrat’s mentor program is a vital and transformative experience, equipping them with the skills, connections, and confidence to launch successful careers in the arts. We are incredibly proud of our mentors and the profound impact they have on our students’ journeys.