Angie (&) Janessa - 1 Year Update

You might remember our friends Angie and Janessa... they wrote to us about a year ago, right after they started meeting.

Angie checked in with us in the past couple of weeks and she had lots to share!

First, she wanted us to know that Janessa had been doing great things in her new position at St. Ambrose.  This is what she wrote about Janessa's professional success:

I believe Janessa is about to celebrate her first year as an Admission Counselor with SAU, but that position is now transforming into something new and never done before at SAU - and her talent/skills/spirit are the reason!

So, we took Angie's lead and checked in with Janessa to see what has been going on in her world and she filled us in.

I am an admissions counselor focused on Hispanic Outreach at SAU. I represent St. Ambrose University to a diverse group of constituents with an emphasis on the recruitment of students who identify as Latino or Hispanic through College/Career Exploration and  College Admission. My program provides Career Readiness Services, for an understanding of different college majors and provides a timeline for what the students should do now and in the future. I provide FAFSA or Scholarship Services to explain different forms of scholarships and how to get them. I am also a bilingual representative for hosted SAU FASFA Nights and some FASFA nights in the Chicago land area. Lastly, I also focus on outreach within the Hispanic community ensuring St. Ambrose shows their support!

Congratulations, Janessa!  It sounds like your hard work has paid off and we LOVE that you've got Angie in your corner to help sing the praises of your talent, skills and spirit!

Angie wasn't done there though. She had more she wanted to share about her experience as a mentor in the Strike a Match program.

Janessa and I met last week at Wide River Winery in the Village of East Davenport so that Janessa could do her first-ever wine tasting! I was so impressed with how open-minded she was about tasting new things and doing something out of her comfort zone, I am really enjoying my time with Janessa - It's been about a year since we've been matched and this experience has been very rewarding for me. When I first signed up for Lead(h)er, I had just started a new role within WQAD News 8 as Anchor of Good Morning Quad Cities and was so excited to be part of this group of inspiring and powerful women. However, when I filled out the form - I'm pretty sure I got the words "Mentee" and "Mentor" mixed up, because I thought I'd be set up with a Mentor. I never ever though I would be capable or knowledgeable enough to Mentor a Mentee. However, what I'm learning is that the "Mentor"/"Mentee" labels are just that - labels. In all of our matches, we learn from each other, we teach each other, we lean on each other, and we work with each other to take steps towards our goals, take heart in how to become better people/workers/women, and take pride in the community around us and what it can offer us. I know I'm inspired to be better in all those ways because of my relationship and mentorship with Janessa. She's been a blessing to my life this past year. What's more - I now have a new wine buddy!

Yes, Angie.. you are exactly right.  The labels are just labels and the thing that fuels career and community engagement is the relationship between two bright, intelligent, driven and committed women!

Thanks for the update, ladies!  Cheers to a wonderful year together and many more to come!