Mentoring 4 Impact
The Mentee Perspective
By Tommy Reynolds
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The mission of Image Impact is to provide mentoring and professional job search preparation for college students with disabilities. At City University of New York (CUNY), many of the students in our Mentoring 4 Impact program are also first-generation college students. In addition to one-on-one mentoring, Image Impact regularly holds workshops that give students further exposure to their field of interest.
Tangemur Ahmed is a first-generation American who was born in Jamaica, Queens, and raised in East New York, where he currently resides with his parents. He is a senior majoring in criminal justice and minoring in public administration at John Jay College. A little over a year ago Tangemur attended an Image Impact Workshop after seeing a flyer in the Office of Accessibility at John Jay College. A judge, who spoke about how best to present oneself to the professional world, was the guest speaker. |
“It was an inspirational talk,” Tangemur opined. “The judge knew a lot about how to dress and prepare for an interview or an informal meet and greet at a seminar. He stressed how far hard work and dedication can take you.”
Tangemur also enjoyed other Image Impact sessions. One of them was presented by an individual from LinkedIn who illustrated the most effective ways to look for positions and make contacts using LinkedIn. Another workshop was hosted by Craig Weitzel, a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), who is on the Image Impact Board of Directors (VP-Audit) and has been a mentor and instructor in the Mentoring 4 Impact program. Craig focused his presentation on the steps and training required to become a CFE, as well as the benefits to students interested in pursuing such a career, including the opportunity to earn a higher salary by getting such a certification.
While Tangemur especially liked the workshop hosted by the CFE because it provided an abundance of information, he found value in all of the workshops he attended. “Each of the workshops was informative and created networking opportunities,” he said. “They were great and gave me good insight into the professional world.” Tangemur is looking to begin his professional career as a quality assurance software tester. His plan is to save money for law school, where he is considering studying entertainment law, or environmental law.
Tangemur also enjoyed other Image Impact sessions. One of them was presented by an individual from LinkedIn who illustrated the most effective ways to look for positions and make contacts using LinkedIn. Another workshop was hosted by Craig Weitzel, a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), who is on the Image Impact Board of Directors (VP-Audit) and has been a mentor and instructor in the Mentoring 4 Impact program. Craig focused his presentation on the steps and training required to become a CFE, as well as the benefits to students interested in pursuing such a career, including the opportunity to earn a higher salary by getting such a certification.
While Tangemur especially liked the workshop hosted by the CFE because it provided an abundance of information, he found value in all of the workshops he attended. “Each of the workshops was informative and created networking opportunities,” he said. “They were great and gave me good insight into the professional world.” Tangemur is looking to begin his professional career as a quality assurance software tester. His plan is to save money for law school, where he is considering studying entertainment law, or environmental law.
