30 years of mentoring: Applied economics spotlight

This year we are celebrating the 30th year of the CFANS Mentor Program. Look for some exciting celebrations and recognition throughout the program year! Have a special memory, photo or story from one of your years being a part of the program? Please share it with us at cfansaro@umn.edu.

As part of our year-long commemoration of this milestone, we'll be highlighting a mentor and mentee match each month. Get to know applied economics mentee Veronica Nowakowski and mentor Emma Lindahl.

Veronica Nowakowski is a second-year student in CFANS. She is majoring in applied economics with a minor in creative writing. Throughout school she has been involved in the APEC Undergraduate Committee, Welcome Week and the Archery Club. For the past year, she has worked as a hedging order desk intern for CHS Hedging. She previously worked at the Wake student magazine as an intern copy editor for six months. She is excited to study abroad in the near future and do an internship during her program. She is thrilled to continue her growth and education in the upcoming years with the University of Minnesota. In her free time, she enjoys theater, creative writing and learning languages.
 

Emma Lindahl is a recent graduate from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural and food business management. She works as a retail sales representative for the Hershey Company, where she manages her own territory of 35 grocery and retail stores in the St. Paul area. During college, she was a human resource generalist intern at the Schwan's Food Company. She also worked as a U of M campus brand ambassador for General Mills on the Nature Valley team as well as in the CFANS advising center. Emma participated in the CFANS Mentor Program when she was an undergraduate student and felt so much more confident going into the workplace upon graduation because of that experience. "I wanted to be a mentor this year to be a resource and a guide to students and make them feel more confident about their future too," she said.

Veronica and Emma have met every month over Zoom since the program started and had an opportunity to meet in person for lunch. Fun fact: they both went to the same high school. So far, they have worked on resume and LinkedIn updates as well as discussed the value of informational interviews and exploring higher education options.