By ASHLYN TOLEDO
When graduate student and Miami HEAT intern, Stephanie Parra, went looking for student mentors for the Miami HEAT and the Carnival Foundation’s School to Work mentorship program, the Chaplin School seemed like a natural place to start.
Parra began the M.S. in Hospitality Management program at Chaplin in August, the same month she began an internship with the HEAT Group’s Community Affairs Department. Part of her job is to develop monthly workshop topics, and then match them to experts and professionals within the community.
“The goal of these workshops is to build the students’ experience and help them prepare for their collegiate career and overall career,” said Parra. “The first thing I remember the advisors at Chaplin telling us, was that they would be there to help us in our careers in any way. I knew that there were a lot of resources there that we could use.”
It wasn’t long before she was in contact with Professor Sandro Formica, who has been teaching classes in leadership, management and personal growth at the Chaplin School for the last eight years.
Formica set out to give the students a lesson in personal empowerment with a workshop titled ‘Life Purpose – Building Your Career Around Your Passion.’ He challenged the students to ask themselves what truly inspires and motivates them.
“It was a great opportunity for the students to think about what their gifts are and what their passion is, and what they want to do with their lives,” said Formica. “I wanted to challenge them from that point of view so that they could find that extra power to do well.”
Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the Miami HEAT, Michael A. McCullough, felt that Prof. Formica’s talk had a real impact on everyone in attendance that day.
“The Miami HEAT were thrilled to host FIU’s Prof. Sandro Formica, and have him speak to the high school students in our School to Work mentoring program,” he said. “He enlightened all of us in the audience about the power we possess within ourselves.”
In addition to helping coordinate the School to Work program, Parra helps coordinate various community outreach programs for the HEAT including NBA Cares, HEAT Academy and the HEAT Learn to Swim Program.
The School to Work mentorship program was launched in 2007 by the Miami HEAT and the Carnival Foundation – a long-time supporter of the Chaplin School – with the help of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Miami. It is designed to give Miami-Dade high school students the opportunity to form relationships with established professionals in the community.
Students will have another chance to connect with a member of the FIU community next month when Chaplin School Dean, Mike Hampton, is scheduled to lead another workshop.
