CEO Insights: The Importance of FastStart

We Are off to a FASTSTART!

The students have returned, welcomed back with numerous events like Convocation and Be A Part From the Start, and with them a renewed energy to our campuses around the Commonwealth. While a sense of normalcy is palpable, we remain vigilant and aware of the ongoing pandemic and the challenges our students face to learn, grow, stay healthy, and have fun.

For many of our first-year students, these challenges can be overwhelming even in normal times. Add a pandemic and the numerous other financial, social, and emotional roadblocks that come with it, and finding success during your initial semesters could feel out of their grasp. Mentors can make an impact on these students and help them find direction, support, and the clarity to persist through and succeed at Penn State. That’s where the Alumni Association’s FastStart Mentoring program comes in.

FastStart is a mentoring program primarily intended for first-year students that are also first-generation college students or students from diverse backgrounds who simply want to get their college careers off to a fast start.

Students are matched with a faculty/staff mentor and a Penn State alumni mentor based on compatibility and shared interests through a dedicated online engagement platform. This triad model gives the students an on-campus mentor, as well as one who can speak to his or her experiences as a student and the power of the alumni network. The goal is to help students flourish in their new environment by answering questions, directing students to resources, offering support and wisdom, and providing informal networks for career development.

For students like Marlo Mendez, her FastStart mentor helped her to “[learn] to adapt to my environment applies to many aspects outside of school, considering the world we live in today.”

Throughout the 25-year history of the FastStart program, thousands of students have felt the power of the Penn State network through their alumni mentors.

Students like Laila Hosni who shared, “My mentors have truly shaped my Penn State experience. I have developed tools to balance academics, work, and other involvement on campus. The FastStart program was an incredible resource in transitioning smoothly to Penn State.”

The average time commitment for mentors is one to two hours per month per student

Are you interested in getting involved with the FastStart mentoring program as a mentor??Visit our site?and become a mentor today!

For the Glory,

Paul J. Clifford ’20g

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PS: I wanted to give a special shout-out to the Greater Pittsburgh Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association for their work to build an endowment to support FastStart. Click?here?to learn more about their efforts.