SPECIAL EVENTS

Mentor Program

A Capital Semester student and his mentor attend the "Meet Your Mentor" breakfast hosted by TFAS.

The Mentor Program is an informal part of Capital Semester designed to give students a personal contact before and througout the semester. Mentors are prepared to offer general information on what it’s like to live and work in our nation’s capital as well as career advice.

Mentors are working professionals who live or work in the D.C. area and possess two or more years of full-time work experience or are an alumnus of a TFAS institute.

PROGRAM COMMITMENT
We ask that students who sign up for the program, commit to the following:

• Responding to their mentor’s introductory email
• Being responsive to their emails during the semester
• Attending the “Meet Your Mentor” Breakfast
• Scheduling at least 3 additional face-to-face meetings with their mentor.

"My mentor and I attended TFAS events together and a spoken word night at a local coffee house in D.C. I benefited a great deal from the mentor program, both educationally and professionally."
Audrina Bigos
Florida International University
Intern, WTTG - Fox 5 News

MENTOR INTERACTION
Mentors will contact students by email before their arrival in Washington to help answer any questions about living in the city. 

In addition, during the program, students will have the opportunity to interact with mentors during:

• “Meet Your Mentor” Breakfast hosted by TFAS during the second week of the program.
• Three in person meetings in addition to checking in by email. The face-to-face meetings could include meeting for coffee, lunch or a tour of their office.
• Optional events organized by TFAS (past events have included Nationals baseball games and Washington Wizards Basketball games).

Possible topics to discuss with Mentors:

• Life in Washington, DC
• Goals for the semester
• Program classes
• Internship duties
• Graduate school vs. work after college
• Career path
• Job searching, resume and interview tips

"My mentor set up an informal meeting with one of his friends in the journalism industry. He seemed to be truly interested in helping me determine what I wanted to do with my future and provided me with thought provoking ideas. He was a great influence, very interesting and helpful."
Alina Selyuka
University of Nebraska- Lincoln
Intern, NationalJournal.com