One of the greatest things about this university would be the staff and faculty.

These are people who want to be here and want to see Oakland University grow to become a great school. Whether it’s a staff member in an office that you visit frequently, or it’s your academic advisor, or even one of your favorite professors — these people are here for the long run. So why not take advantage of that?

Find a mentor while you’re here. Find someone who can help you achieve your goals in life. Find someone who will challenge you to become something more of yourself — someone who will push you to be the best you can be. Do it early. In fact, find multiple mentors. It’ll only benefit you in the long run.

The reason why I’m telling you to get a mentor is because I know from personal experience how beneficial it’s been. I’ve been able to make the most of my experience here at OU through the opportunities have opened up since I found my mentor, Jim Zentmeyer, director of the Housing Department on campus.

Not only have I been able to go to him for any questions or concerns that I’ve had, I’ve been able to take advantage of the knowledge that he holds from all of his experience in higher education, which is the field that I want to go into. I’ve been able to act like a sponge and absorb all his advice over the last couple of years. Let me tell you, it has made all of the difference for me in my involvement on campus.

Because of my mentor, I’ve been able to excel in everything that I do. I made it a point to go out of my way to make my mentor proud. I got involved in bigger things — things that I knew I could make a difference in. I stepped my game up academically and physically. I wanted to be a better person because my mentor inspired me to do so.

Not only that, but all of my friends that have a mentor are successful in what they want to do.

Their being given advice on how to make it in their respective fields and that’s giving them a chance to be different from everyone else. They have someone that they can look up to and go to if they need guidance.

So why should you find a mentor? Because they’ll make you that much better of a person. A good mentor will push you to be better. They’ll guide you, even when you don’t immediately see it. All you have to do is take initiative with it. Take that first step down the road to your future and make the most of it.

Find someone who you can look up to and ask them if they’d be willing to mentor you. I assure you that it’ll make a difference in your short time here.