Penn women receive advice on surviving the real world

While some junior and senior women are frantic over finding jobs and summer internships, the Women in Leadership Series is trying to help. The student group has introduced a program -- separate from Career Services -- that supports female employment endeavors. Yesterday, the Penn Women's Mentoring Program, sponsored by WILS, held its kick-off brunch in Logan Hall. "Our goal is to give women the resources and the opportunities to not only succeed in their careers but also to have the confidence in themselves in order to achieve their goals," said Jessica Linden, a College junior and WILS organizer. Approximately 100 undergraduate women -- from all four schools -- attended the event, where they listened to a panel of recent female Penn graduates speak about their lives, careers and interest in becoming mentors. Eveie Wilpon, a 1997 College graduate and co-founder of the Penn Women's Mentoring Program, said that throughout her final year at Penn she was "lucky enough to have met some great mentors," but it was not easy. She added that the Penn Women's Mentoring Program will be a readily accessible way to meet alumni who have gone through some of the same issues, noting that students who take advantage of the new program will find out "things we wish we would have known while we were making these decisions." Each of the nine alumni who spoke at the brunch agreed that mentoring is especially important for women. 1998 College graduate Lisa Forman spoke about being a woman in the predominantly male world of investment banking. Contributing another tidbit for her eager audience, Forman spoke on a entirely different subject. On finding an apartment in New York, she said that she would have loved to have had a mentor while she was going through the exhaustive process. While investment banking and New York house hunting are completely different issues, Forman's talk helped demonstrate the versatility of the program. Sara Eisenberg, a 1996 College graduate, discussed the hardships of being a woman at a top real estate firm. While working, she would ask herself, "Am I a wimp? Can I not handle these boys?" expressing to the group that she would have loved to have had a fellow alumna to talk to at the time. At the event, the Penn Women's Mentoring Program handed out booklets listing about 150 Penn women graduates. The program is not for finding jobs, but rather, for building long-term relationships. The Women in Leadership Series was founded in 1998 by six undergraduate women who recognized the need for forums where women could address leadership roles traditionally dominated by men.