During my college years, I have had exactly two PACT mentors, and they have both saved my life on more than one occasion. For those who don’t know what a PACT mentor is let me make it easy for you, they are your lifeline!

Before I came to the United States to study, I had no idea what a PACT mentor was. All I really knew was that a person with this title was helping me already before I got on a plane. My mentor was the person who knew how to put my very first schedule together, something an international student like myself very much appreciates. I was lucky enough to meet my mentor during the orientation weekend at school. Everything was brand new and I had left everyone I loved behind, and here was this person helping me with issues I didn’t even know I had. What classes do you want to take? What classes do you have to take? How early are you willing to get up in the morning? Will you have school on a Friday? All these questions were foreign to me considering I was used to school being a set schedule for everyone and choosing anything besides what clothes to wear was not my job.

The first description of what a PACT mentor was came during one of the first days. I was informed that this person would help me out with choosing what classes I needed, as well as let me know how I was doing in all my classes. We were informed that we would receive emails calling us to meeting to let us know if we were doing a good job or not. This was terrifying to me. I was always the child who got called to the principal’s office and yelled at for having too many absences so I could already feel my shoulders creeping up under my ears in fear. Of course, this fear was short lived. I wasn’t in high school anymore (in fact I was 24 and hadn’t been in high school for a long time) and I loved all my classes (maybe not all of them, but let’s just say that). The only time I got called into a meeting I was told I was doing great in a class I didn’t really know I was doing great in, and from that day on, my PACT mentor was someone I loved to have meetings with.

As a college student, your PACT mentor is your most valuable tool. This is the connection between your professors, the administrative department, and your future after college. Think about it this way, in the olden days when phone calls had to go through a central in order to connect you to the right person, your PACT mentor is that central. If you use your mentor in the right way, they will make your life so much easier you won’t even believe it.

Say you are a media student like me. While my professors in the media department can help me out with what classes I have to take for my major (your PACT mentor also knows this) they might not know what general education classes you need. This is where your PACT mentor is gold. During my very first semester, I was looking at my degree page trying to figure out what classes I wanted to take, and what classes I had to take. I wrote down all the classes I wanted, and then I wrote down the ones I saw that I needed. When I showed up to my mentor's office (they might be in cubicles but I see them as offices) I had already prepared myself for what to ask. This is another tip to all of you students out there who keep complaining about your mentor, they are not your mom, they will not do the laundry for you, but they will assist you every step of the way as long as you do your part. Doing some simple work yourself will make the mentoring process so much more efficient for you. The PACT mentors already know how to do their job, however, they can’t do yours for you.

My PACT mentor also helps me with removing classes that I do not need. When I saw that I had to take a basic computer class, I said to myself ‘why do I have to take a class I already know?’ and asked my mentor the very same question, she informed me that if I felt this class was unnecessary I could try something called a placement exam. This turned out to be such a huge favor because I passed the exam and didn’t have to sit through a class I already knew. When the time came for my mentor to move on I was frightened because I had to get a new one. I had heard so many stories from fellow students about being sent from mentor to mentor until they could find one specific one and I was dreading having to be shipped from person to person. To my joy, the first match was a good one.

While my first mentor might have taken care of the basic questions and introduction, my second one has been my therapist, my mother, and my best friend all in one. He has never failed to calm me down when I send him just about ten emails freaking out about something, he has supported me and made me feel like a proud child showing my drawing before it got put up on the fridge, and he has been cheering me on like a true friend. While some of you might be thinking ‘you have the strangest PACT mentor I have ever heard of’ I assure you I am the strange one. He might not even know this, but he has supporter me at times when everything seemed hopeless. If I am being completely honest, none of the PACT mentors receive the gratitude they are entitled to. You might feel the urge to tell me that this is their job and that you shouldn’t expect anything less, but this is where I point out that PACT mentors are in fact human after all.

So here is to you, all of you, and a couple in particular. I raise my glass to you, I thank you, and I assure you part of my degree, and part of my success is because of you.

From the bottom of my stressed out soul, I thank you.