“Your mentors are here to guide you, not for you to follow their paths, but for you to create your own,” UP President Angelo Jimenez (PAJ) told the first batch of mentees in the Alumni Mentoring Program of the UP Alumni Association of San Francisco (UPAASF).
The program was established in partnership with the UP Office of Student Development Services (OSDS) and with assistance from the UP Diliman Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs (OVCSA). Launched on November 8, it matches volunteer mentors with UPD students enrolled in fields related to the mentors’ areas of expertise. According to the Alumni Mentoring Program packet, the program “puts the needs, desires, and challenges of the mentee at the core of the mentorship experience” as it uses a design thinking approach to mentee-centered mentoring.
To the UPAASF mentors who joined the launch via Zoom, PAJ said, “You will help shape these future leaders.” Assistant VP for Academic Affairs (Student Affairs) and OSDS Director Shari Niña Oliquino, meanwhile, referred to the mentors as the “cornerstone of this initiative.” She also expressed hope that the pilot program will “serve as a catalyst for other alumni associations and private organizations to step forward and provide career assistance to UP students.”
For third-year BS Statistics major, Hannah Nicole Gaudiel, the program “could not have come at a better time,” explaining that she had some idea of where she wanted to be but she was “unsure of how to get there.” Mark Nicholas Cagas, a third-year BS Computer Engineering student, said that the program was not just about career guidance, but “about forging a path that is authentic to each of us [mentees].” He also lauded the mentee-centered approach that gives importance to “our voice in this partnership.”
UPAASF President Rosario Calderon said she was excited about the opportunity to share her expertise and passion, already advising the mentees that a successful career entails “humility and teamwork, both as a team leader and as a team player.”
The Alumni Mentoring Program runs from November 2023 to February 2024.
| UPAASF MENTORS | UPD MENTEES |
| Rosario Calderon | Ian Gabriel Soriano Dela Cena, BS Mechanical Engineering Maria Angelica Lizardo Oarde, BS Economics |
| Jaime Cortes | Mary Austin Zamora Dela Cruz, BS Business Economics Leimer Hanz Esperas Miranda, BS Statistics |
| Sonia Delen | Christine Atienza Chua, BS Business Administration Julienne Guingab Vinarao, BS Business Administration and Accountancy |
| Simeon Godinez | Mark Nicholas Labor Cagas, BS Computer Engineering Jacqueline Ann Bautista Vicerra, BS Computer Science |
| Eric Golangco | Yumi San Juan Nishimura, BS Materials Engineering Keith Kevin Largo Saraza, BS Chemical Engineering |
| Leticia Quizon | Aya Lamadrid (Dan Moises Dave Repasa Cuesta), BS Business Administration and Accountancy Sofie Alessandra Custodio Villamar, BS Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management |
| Michaela Abao Viray | Julyanne Gail Quising Frilles, BS Statistics Hannah Nicole Gaudiel, BS Statistics |
| Zigfred Viray | John Louis Quizon Nieto, BS Electronics Engineering |
