MENTORSHIP PANEL Today, 5 p.m. Kerckhoff Grand
Salon
The Armenian Graduate Students Association, which has run
mentorship panels for the last five years, is expanding its program
to provide year-round mentoring to undergraduate students
interested in UCLA’s graduate schools.
The group plans to hold the sixth annual Mentorship Panel today,
and it is open to all UCLA undergraduate students.
The panelists, who will be making brief presentations about
their programs, represent 12 UCLA graduate and professional
schools, including the schools of law, medicine, management,
dentistry, nursing, engineering, film and television, said Raffi
Kassabian, projector coordinator for the Mentorship Panel.
After the presentations, the undergraduates will form focus
groups with the panelists from the programs of their choice. In the
groups, students will be able to ask specific questions about the
programs and the panelists’ experience, Kassabian said.
One panelist, first-year medical student Andrew Behesnilian,
said he will talk about what is expected of medical school
applicants and answer questions regarding issues such as
undergraduate research and volunteer experience.
Another panelist, Nishan Tchekmedyian, a first-year medical
student, plans to speak about applying to medical school with
nontraditional majors and duel programs like the MD/MBA program, in
which students get a medical degree and a MBA degree in five
years.
Tchekmedyian graduated UCLA last June with a molecular cellular
developmental biology and business economics double major.
This year’s panelists will become mentors and stay
connected with the undergraduate students through their application
process, while in past years the mentorship did not last past the
event, said Shirley Mossessian, project coordination officer for
the Armenian Graduate Student Association.
Some panelists say they are excited about their role in helping
students apply to graduate school.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to help
undergraduates figure out what they want to do and provide them
with a little career guidance,” Tchekmedyian said.
The mentorship program also aims to help first-generation
college students and students with language barriers with the
application process.
Kassabian said many Armenian students at UCLA are
first-generation college students and would benefit from having
mentors guide them.
Event organizers say they expect the panel to draw about 50
undergraduate students, most of whom are likely to be from the
Armenian Student Association.
The organizers of the event also hope it will help to better
connect the graduate and undergraduate Armenian student
associations.
“The main goal is to mentor, to build a stronger
relationship between the graduate and undergraduate
communities,” said Kassabian.
Students who are unable to make the event tonight can still sign
up with a mentor, Mossessian said.