Barnard Magazine Winter 2014

Victoria Cuellar ’05 & Sophie Ellman-Golan ’14

Victoria Cuellar never had a formal mentor, but says many people helped her along the way and she wants to do the same.

“Many of my mentors were professors or advisors that were significantly older,” says Cuellar, a Barnard mentor for three years. She says it would have been great to have a mentor closer to her age. Now working in the capital-aggregation department at the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, which seeks to transform the lives of disadvantaged youth, Cuellar says she encourages her mentees to lead with their “guts” versus taking a “safe” job. Sophie Ellman-Golan is also interested in social justice work. “I feel really lucky to be paired with Victoria,”

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says Ellman-Golan, who is majoring in Africana studies and human rights. “She and I have a similar combination of idealism and pragmatism. We bonded very quickly. She has helped me get in touch with people I can speak with about my thesis,” says the 21-year-old. Ellman-Golan also says the two discuss potential jobs and are fast becoming friends. “The program provides a platform for making connections that you might not have an opportunity to make otherwise,” she says.