Meet Coach Fern!

For the past 30 years, Fern Slom worked for information technology consultancies helping her clients innovate by harnessing the benefits of leading-edge technologies. Her work cuts across sectors, including financial services, healthcare, digital media, B2B, and technology. In addition to her professional responsibilities, she embraces leadership roles within her Princeton, NJ community and has volunteered in a coach/mentoring role with i.c. stars and SCORE prior to agreeing to serve as a FirstGen Ahead coach.

“I was a first-generation college student at the University of Pennsylvania and was fortunate to have had assistance with my internship and job search. I remember the gratitude I felt for the valuable support I received, and I would love helping others facing the same challenge,” recalls Fern as to her initial motivation in coaching a UPenn junior through FirstGen Ahead who is majoring in computer information science.

Unlike other FirstGen Ahead students who are exploring potential careers, Fern’s student knows what she wants to do – she just needs help getting from where she is to where she initially needs to go. Fern has been instrumental in opening doors for her student, preparing her for interviews, and helping her evaluate two summer internship offers she has already received. Her approach to coaching is to begin by developing an authentic relationship by building trust and by being an active listener, while setting goals to keep the coaching relationship on track. She prefers an “asking not telling” approach to help her student formulate and clarify their own ideas and goals; then they brainstorm together about the steps to reach them. Fern tries to support her mentees by building confidence, encouraging and motivating, while still providing advice, insight and feedback to guide them on a path to reach their goals. She says, “The coaching process can be one of the best ways to learn and develop. I view it as a partnership between someone with experience and someone who wants to learn.”

Of the experience thus far, Fern reports, “My student was very receptive to sharing information, being accountable, and acknowledging her feelings and needs. I have enjoyed serving as an advisor and advocate, and to helping my student understand which types of summer internships can best fit into her long-term career goals.” Her hope for her student is that she achieves the objectives that she has set for herself while still finding the time to have fun along the way.

Fern’s advice for other first-gen students who are searching for a summer internship is “to determine your priorities. To maximize your chances of landing that dream internship, it’s imperative to know where the best places are to look and how to go about the journey. Don’t hesitate to ask for help. And most of all, keep a positive attitude and rest assured that eventually you’ll secure a position that’s right for you!”

If you know of someone who would like to learn about serving as a FirstGen Ahead coach for the next academic year, please have them contact susan@FirstGenAhead.org.