Throughout college, students lean on professors, staff and fellow students to help build the skills and experience needed to be successful Sooners.
As the class of 2026 prepares to graduate, students and staff from across OU’s colleges and mentorship programs reflect on the lessons learned and memories made throughout their college experience.
Engineering Pathways Mentors Network
The Engineering Pathways Mentor Network is a mentorship program within the Gallogly College of Engineering. The network focuses on student wellness, retention and career building, according to its website.
The network also focuses on fostering community and belonging with the engineering college through one-on-one student interactions, according to Allison Quiroga, assistant professor of the Engineering Pathways Mentors Network.
“Overall, the goal of (the network) is really focused on first-year students, trying to help them in their transition into the college experience because we know that that looks so incredibly different for every student, …” Quiroga said. “It’s not fair for us to ask students to learn those things all on their own.”
Quiroga said the network’s mentors work to reduce burnout among first-year engineering students.
“Engineering (is) not a one-person sport, …” Quiroga said. “You have to be asking for assistance, for feedback, for study groups, for moral support throughout the entirety of your academic career, or you're going to burn yourself out.”
Matthew Agron, a computer science senior and senior mentor in the network, said the mentors work as “out-of-office TAs,” or teaching assistants, which allows them to focus more on one-on-one mentorship and connection opportunities rather than supporting traditional classroom operations.
“When I first came (to the network’s office), they had the students … just helping out …,” Agron said. “Then afterwards, (mentors) chit-chat with students, trying to help them find student (organizations) or ways they can get more comfortable on campus.”
Quiroga noted this was an intentional change to the network’s structure to foster deeper social connections, which in turn increases the chance of students asking for help and getting plugged in, according to Quiroga.
Faith Morrison, an industrial engineering systems senior and senior mentor in the network, said one of the best parts of being a mentor is seeing her former mentees become leaders on campus.
“(A former mentee) is now the (aerodynamics) lead on the Sooner Racing Team. … I think I'm the reason that she joined, because I was hyping it up so much to her whenever she was a little freshman,” Morrison said. “She seemed to like it a lot because … now (she’s) running the (aerodynamics team) and has been leadership on that team for two years, which is great.”
With a soft smile on her face as she watched Agron and Morrison, Quiroga said mentors like Agron and Morrison’s “generosity of spirit” have made the engineering college — and OU — better.
“There's an underlying piece of wanting this place to be better and wanting to uplift the people that are around them. That is the heart and soul of what this program is,” Quiroga said. “I can't teach them that.”
Agron and Morrison will both graduate in the spring. Agron said that, although he will miss working with other mentors, he will miss helping mentor other students too.
“Being able to be there for students who are growing up, who are taking their first step out of their houses, or taking a step out of their jobs to take the freshman engineering experience,” Agron said. “Being able to see them grow in a semester, or … in a year or two. … At the end of the day, I'm just a mentor.”
JCPenney Leadership Program
The JCPenney Leadership Program is the flagship development program in the Michael F. Price College of Business. The program has been led for the past eight years by director Breea Clark, the former mayor of Norman from 2019-22.
The program, which is exclusive to Price students, provides supplemental mentorship, career building and networking opportunities for those accepted into the program.
“We really focus on the personal side as well, …” Clark said. “We've given you all the skills you need to get the job, but what do you need to be a good young professional and begin your career?”
Clark noted that the graduating class of around 55 associates has changed the program to be more attractive to potential new members.
“This graduating class has really upgraded the program in a much-needed way,” Clark said. “That's probably going to be their greatest legacy.”
The program recently overhauled its internal curriculum and requirements to be more competitive with Price’s standard curriculum, something Clark said the graduating student leadership helped reshape.
“We want to remain the next level of leadership — the best of the best, (but) what does that look like? …” Clark said. “Their leadership was instrumental in upgrading that in a way that I think has been truly impactful.”
Clark said helping seniors land their first job out of college is where the program makes the biggest impact.
“It always warms my heart when, unsolicited, (seniors) tell me, ‘I found the job, but I wouldn't have had the skills to be successful in the interview if it weren't for the JCPenney Leadership Program,’ so they see that it makes a difference,” Clark said.
Clark said the effects of the JCPenney Leadership Program extend long after seniors graduate from OU.
“When we say ‘JCPenney family,’ it is 100% a family,” Clark said. “My students grow up connecting with alumni that came before me. It's exciting, and it's really an honor to be a part of that legacy.”
College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences
The College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences houses the School of Meteorology and School of Aviation, both ranked as the No. 1 schools of their kind in the nation.
Liam Thompson, current College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences outstanding senior, said a large portion of his time at OU was shaped by his research mentor, urban meteorology professor Chenghao Wang, whom Thompson has studied with for over two and a half years.
“I first met him by a random cold email saying, ‘Hey, I'm really interested in your urban and urban atmospheric research, …’” Thompson said. “We set up an independent study course, and that is how I really got (started) with atmospheric research.”
Liam Thompson, left, and Ralph Keen are seniors in the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences.
Thompson also noted his time and work with Amanda Kis, meteorology lecturer, and said her passion for teaching inspired him.
“She really loves teaching, and so I was really inspired by her passion for how she’s used meteorology as a vehicle for being able to teach what she loves, …” Thompson said. “She (is) somebody I look up to.”
Ralph Keen, an aviation senior and OU RUF/NEK, also praised Kis for her impact on his academic experience.
“She is an amazing human being,” Keen said.
Keen recounted an early story when he took an online Intro to Weather course with Kis. He attended her office hours to ask questions about meteorology and how it would impact aviation.
“I went to her office hours, and she admitted that I was the only student who had ever come in for this class, …” Keen said. “She seemed really genuine about teaching in general.”
Outside the classroom, Keen highlighted how Kis became the faculty adviser of the OU Speech Team, a registered student organization on campus that Keen founded, after connecting over their shared experience of doing speech in high school.
Keen said Kis’ mentorship has been both academic and life-centric.
“She has been a really good mentor for me the past few years in college, helping me focus my passions into where they can really be beneficial, but also pumping the brakes sometimes and focusing me back in on what's good, and just growing as a human being,” Keen said.
Thompson said his mentors at OU have helped him become a mentor for others, a role he said he never thought he’d see himself in.
“I have people reach out to me constantly like, ‘Liam, can you help me revise these essays? Can you help me decide what I should do given my situation?’” Thompson said. “I'm always going to look fondly back on the environment that OU has fostered for its students.”
Keen said that as he prepares to graduate, he will always remember his growth and the faculty that nurtured it.
“It all comes back to the family you build at OU. It's unlike any other — I truly do believe that,” Keen said. “I don't just say that. I am living, breathing proof that we are a family.”
This story was edited by Anusha Fathepure, Macey Thaxton and Natalie Armour. Andrew Higgins and Gretchen Schultz copy edited this story.
