mbaa mentors: lifelines for at-risk students
When you’re 16 or 17 years old, it’s hard enough to get out of bed early in the morning and head for school. Imagine how much harder it is when you’ve been up till 3 a.m. putting in a customer’s hair weave because your family needs the money to pay the rent. Imagine having to stay home from school because your parent didn’t come home last night, and you’re the only person around who can take care of your younger siblings. Imagine a horizon so narrow that you’ve never traveled anywhere beyond your school, the store, and the homes of friends and relatives.
For many students in the City of Buffalo, that’s life. That’s why they can’t imagine the future that an education would make possible, or the careers that might be within their grasp, or how their lives could be different from their parents’ lives.
Last year, a group of volunteers from the Canisius College MBA Alumni Association (MBAA) decided to do something about it by changing the odds for at-risk students at Buffalo’s Burgard Vocational High School. Since then, we’ve been meeting with the students one hour a week to help fill the tremendous knowledge gaps that stand in their way of furthering their education and pursuing meaningful careers.
Sometimes our interaction is as simple as getting them to open up about their lives and interests and helping them set goals. Sometimes we teach them a few of the basic life skills they’ll need to become independent: how to dress appropriately for a job interview (and for young men, how to tie a tie!), how to open a checking account, how to establish credit. We encourage them, guide them, and give them hope that something better is out there, and that they can achieve it.
Occasionally we take them on field trips to worlds beyond their sphere of experience. They’ve toured the Canisius College campus, marveling at the dorms and the academic atmosphere that’s so different from high school. Thanks to MBAA Past President Chris Golinsky, MBA ’79, they’ve also visited offices at M&T Bank, seeing for the first time how people dress, work, and interact in a professional setting. In the near future, we hope to introduce them to other work settings, including the New Era Cap factory and a local hospital.
The MBAA mentoring program was inspired by two people: Board Member Sherrida Davis, MBA ’00, who wanted MBAA members to mobilize their talents on behalf of the Western New York community, and Board Member Florence Krieter, MBA ’03, Principal of Burgard, who realized the influence MBAA mentors could have on the lives of the struggling students at her school. These two women lit the enthusiasm of our first six volunteers and got the program off the ground.
A similar program is underway at Lafayette High School, thanks to the efforts of Board Member Anthony Marranca ’96, MBA ’06. Conducted through the Financial Academy and the Canisius College chapter of Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE), the Financial Literacy Program is directed at students with a strong aptitude for business, and is intended to prepare them for work at the college level.
We need more people on both of these teams – at least four who are willing to spend an hour per week for the general mentoring program at Burgard, and at least two who are willing to spend just a couple of hours per month at Lafayette with the Financial Literacy Program. If you’re interested in joining us, please contact the Gradate Business Programs Office at Canisius College, at 888-2140 or gradubus@canisius.edu.
Community service programs are facing cutbacks in these tough economic times, but here’s a challenge that can’t be solved with dollars. The students we mentor need the support of professionals who can open the world for them and help them unlock their potential. They need us.
Danielle Hawbaker, MBA ’05, Second Vice President
Canisius College MBA Alumni Association
stephanie | Evening/Part-Time MBA