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Want to change your life? Find a college mentor

In a recent study, researchers examined the effects of mentoring relationships that students forged in early adulthood on their later academic, vocational, and psychosocial well-being at midlife.

The Big Picture:

A large-scale national suggest that mentoring relationships can exert lasting influence on college students’ developmental trajectories:

• Compared to their unmentored counterparts, adults (ages 33 to 42) who had a natural mentor during adolescence or emerging adulthood reported
  • higher educational attainment
  • more time spent volunteering, and
  • more close friends, after controlling for a range of confounding factors.
• These effects were even stronger when the mentor was someone outside the inner circle of family and friends (e.g. college professors, employers).

Why This Matters to You:

The mentoring relationships that you forge in college can exert lasting influence on your life. It’s time to reach out–join a lab, get involved in campus groups, forge a tie with your employer–because the mentors you meet can change your life.

Connect with a supportive peer on MentorHub NU