Gettysburg College offers its students a personalized education—one that deepens knowledge and refines enduring skills while also building their own Gettysburg Network with peers, faculty and staff, and alumni. As an undergraduate, Julianne Cabour ’12 experienced this firsthand as she sought to learn about a career in higher education from Stacy Godnick ’84, retired associate dean of student academic life at Boston University.
A political science, globalization studies, and studio art major at Gettysburg, Cabour worked as a tour guide and program coordinator in the Office of Admissions at Gettysburg. She believed her career path would take her into admissions after graduation, but after spending a week with Godnick in the summer of 2010, her eyes were opened to the variety of different roles she could pursue at a college or university—and the impact she could have on students.
Since graduating from Gettysburg, Cabour has worked within and adjacent to the higher education field for the last decade. She has guided high school students looking to enroll in college and helped international students find placement at educational institutions in the United States. Before returning to Boston University as an international student advisor in 2022, she spent nearly five years working with the Institute of International Education on the Fulbright U.S. and Visiting Scholar Program.
Cabour was the first Gettysburg student hosted by Godnick, and the experience enlivened her strong connection to her alma mater. A sociology major as an undergraduate, Godnick went on to host several more Gettysburg students before retiring in 2023. Godnick’s passion and dedication to Boston University led to her receiving the John F. Perkins Award for Distinguished Service.
Cabour and Godnick have remained close throughout the last decade, maintaining the mentor-mentee relationship they built 14 years ago. The pair recently connected to talk about the impact of mentorship, made possible through their alma mater.
“As an alum of Gettysburg college who has engaged in mentoring current students, I have been able to promote Gettysburg College values and pay forward the impact my mentors had on me. It's giving back to the College while also impacting the life of a student.”
– Stacy Godnick ’84
How did the Center for Career Engagement help create this opportunity?
Stacy Godnick: “I’ve been giving to the College every year since graduation, but it wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to do more. The Center for Career Engagement reached out to me explaining how much of an impact someone who does volunteering can have on students. It wasn't a huge time commitment, but it was an impactful time commitment. I think that sometimes volunteering is hard when you have a very busy life, but because of the scope of it, it seemed really doable and digestible.”
Julianne Cabour: “I did a couple of career opportunities with Career Engagement. There were dinners with alumni and I had previously done an internship in Boston. I had initially been interested in higher education because I was pursuing more of a path in admissions and thought it would be good to get exposure. I'm from the Boston area and wanted to come back to the area eventually, so it really fit my career goals and drew my attention.”
In what ways did the experience showcase the opportunities available for a career in higher education?
SG: “I would have an intake with the student and ask them to tell me what they were interested in. It got them thinking a little bit, and I would then set up informational interviews with my colleagues throughout the different areas of higher education at Boston University: orientation, admissions, international students, LGBTQI, and advising—which was my area. I'd also arrange informational interviews in areas the interns weren't necessarily interested in or even knew existed! I think that the biggest surprises and the biggest gifts that mentors had given me was exposing me to things that I had no clue about.”
JC: “Stacy provided a wide perspective of what it means and what it can be to work within higher education, as opposed to narrowing my focus on admissions. I think that really gave me a broader perspective of what that field could be.”
How engaged were you with the campus community during the internship?
JC: “The days would be so packed. I have a very distinct memory of getting to campus, meeting Stacy, and then she put on her sneakers before we left the office. That really defined how the rest of the day would go. It was constant movement, attending meetings and learning about what was going on around campus at all levels and being introduced to people who were running different programs on campus. I think one thing that I hadn't anticipated that was extraordinarily beneficial was being thrown in and involved in the conversations. My claim to fame is that I registered Larry Bird’s daughter for courses during that internship.”
What makes for an ideal candidate for this type of career experience?
SG: “The ideal candidate for an internship like this is someone who is curious, open-minded, and nimble because I did like to throw interns into different environments. What made Julianne successful was that she was a great listener, engaging, and was genuinely trying to explore the opportunity to work in higher education. She took it all in with an open mind and was willing to get out of her comfort zone. I think those are some of the traits that make a successful intern.”
How did the internship prepare you for your postgraduate career?
JC: “After graduating, I applied to a number of jobs, still pursuing admissions, and would constantly refer back to that experience. As a new grad, I didn't have a lot of professionally-based experiences. The internship was something I could draw from and it was a great launching pad to show that I was interested in pursuing something within education. At Gettysburg, I could attest to the smaller school experience, but with the internship at BU, I was able to gain a different perspective on how an institution that size works and articulate those experiences with the organizations and institutions I applied to after graduating.”
What were the biggest takeaways from this career mentoring opportunity?
SG: “It was fulfilling because you saw these ‘aha’ moments when they learned something they didn’t know, and that’s an important piece as an educator. As an alum of Gettysburg College who has engaged in mentoring current students, I have been able to promote Gettysburg College values and pay forward the impact my mentors had on me. It's giving back to the College while also impacting the life of a student.”
JC: “The internship was working face-to-face with people all day and helped make me more confident with making those connections later on. I was comfortable reaching out to Stacy and developed a rapport that wasn't just work related. I think the personal experience really made my internship such an impactful experience.”
How can current students connect with you?
JC: “I've had a few students reach out to me from LinkedIn who said they were involved in the same organizations that I was, or they had heard about me through Andy Hughes on campus. They'll usually ask how I got into this field, or what it's like working with international students or in higher education in general. I am always happy to connect with current students and share more about my job.”
SG: “I want to continue to mentor Julianne and connect with other students and alumni who reached out to me through connectGettysburg. Now that I’m retired, I can’t do the job shadowing experience anymore, but I can connect folks with many of my colleagues still working in higher ed. I hope people reach out on the platform.”
By Corey Jewart
Photos submitted by subjects
Posted: 07/16/24
