Cady Stribling
Features Editor
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Elizabeth Erwin, senior double major in public relations and international studies, had her heart set to study abroad in China from March to July. After COVID-19 quickly spread, Erwin had to cancel her study abroad trip and enroll back at Murray State for the spring semester.
Stuck at home in Crestwood, Kentucky, Erwin was left to find something new to fill her summer. As the virus spread, every internship and job Erwin had lined up in such short notice ended up falling through the cracks. Then in June, a ProMazo recruiter made an offer to Erwin to work on a free app called 100k Mentor Challenge, which was meant to connect underrepresented college students to companies from a variety of fields and industries.
“Last semester because of COVID-19, a lot of professional development opportunities, summer internships and recruiting events got canceled when colleges and universities decided to go virtual,” Erwin said. “Since I had personally been affected, I really connected with the mission of the challenge, but I also saw it as an amazing opportunity for Murray State students to get involved.”
Erwin works as a public relations analyst on the external public relations team, so all summer she has been reaching out to companies and making pitches to executives to join as mentors. Erwin said students fill out their profiles on the app, which will generate a portfolio of five potential mentors to choose from, and the final match is announced on match day.
Erwin said the app tackles many challenges that cause mentorships to fall apart like a duration of time that lasts too long. To combat this, they created seasons, so students will have one mentor for a four month period, and at the end of the season both parties can decide to continue or move on to other matches.
“While the app is for all college students, right now we are currently focused on helping 100,000 students from underrepresented backgrounds,” Erwin said. “This is because we saw underrepresented students getting hit the hardest by these cancellations since they often rely on resources provided on a physical college campus.”
Erwin said while students gain insight about their career aspirations, further professional development and expand their network, professionals and companies can also create relationships with students from areas that are often overlooked while giving back during these difficult times.
Erwin said if students are still attempting to navigate their futures, this app is an amazing opportunity to connect with employers. She said everyone has unique experiences in their professional journeys, so there is a lot students can learn.
“I want Murray State to show up because I don’t think it’s often that we are included in these innovative projects,” Erwin said. “I’m on a team with 40 students from 12 universities across the country, and I’m the only one from a regional, rural university. I think Murray State students have a lot to offer and gain from this experience compared to students from better funded or well known universities.”
Ethan Catanghal, senior communications major with an emphasis in public relations, attends California State University, Fullerton. He also found out about the app through a ProMazo recruiter on LinkedIn, and Catanghal said he was immediately hooked.
“When Adam told me about the situation of underrepresented students losing their ability to build their network, I knew I wanted to help,” Catanghal said. “I believe everyone deserves an opportunity to better their future and networking is definitely one way to do that. I was lucky and was able to build my network, and I believe everyone deserves the same opportunity that I had.”
Catanghal joined the team in August with the corporate outreach team where he had to find potential partner companies that would supply mentors for the 100k Mentor program. He said he first had to take some time to learn the ropes from Erwin before feeling comfortable enough to generate ideas and lead conversations during meetings.
“My teammates Elizabeth and Jennifer really opened my eyes and helped me through the entire process,” Catanghal said. “They helped me perfect my pitch, shared their insight on different types of marketing/communication strategies and even allowed me to join in on some of their meetings that they led so I could see how they were pitching to potential partners. They helped me to get to where I am today with this internship and now I have a built up confidence that I did not have before.”
With this newfound confidence, Catanghal said he is pitching to C Suite level executives and HR personnel of Fortune 500 companies — something he never imagined doing. The leadership experience that has come with this and building the app from the ground up will be the most beneficial aspect, Catanghal said.
Catanghal said he is simply amazed by the app and what it can offer for people to regain control over the course of their future.
“COVID-19 took control of our future career plans and altered the way that we grew professionally,” Catanghal said. “The 100K Mentor app lets us get back in control of our future and allows students to continue to grow professionally. Don’t let COVID-19 continue to bring you and your future down. Join today and take charge of your future!”
100k Mentor Challenge launched Tuesday, Oct. 27, and is in the App Store and Google Play Store.