Molly Graham put the Girl Scout motto “Be Prepared” to work this summer as she helped plan the 2024 Business Bridge Week for incoming first-year students.
A lifelong member of the Girl Scouts, Graham credits the organization with her drive and passion to help others. “Be a sister to every Girl Scout” is the message she lives by. It was during a Girl Scout leadership conference at the University of Maine when she decided she wanted to study finance. As a ninth grader, she met women leaders from all industries and particularly enjoyed learning about being a financial advisor.
“I was inspired by how the speaker volunteered her time to give back to her community,” Graham said. “She taught financial skills pro bono to help others. That’s what I want to do. I want a career that is forward facing, helps people and fosters relationships.”
As a first-generation college student from Lincoln, Graham is proud to be on the road to becoming the first in her family to earn a college degree. She has spent her summer before her sophomore year working full time for the Maine Business School. She is one of two students who worked alongside staff to plan and execute New Student Orientation and Business Bridge Week.
A mandatory orientation, Business Bridge Week is designed for incoming first-year business students. The six-day event kicks off the week before classes start and is tailored to ease the transition to college by helping new students acclimate to campus and build meaningful connections with their peers, faculty and staff.
Graham, who participated in Business Bridge Week last year, is thrilled to have the opportunity to make the event impactful for new MBS students.
“Bridge Week was amazing for me,” she said. “I was terrified to go to college. My parents and I had no idea how to navigate the transition from high school to college. It was incredibly stressful. If it wasn’t for bridge week and the MBS community, I probably would have dropped out of school.”
Instead, Graham thrived during her first year with MBS. Bridge Week gave her the space, time and confidence to realize she didn’t need to have all the answers the second she stepped foot on campus. She participated in all the Bridge Week programming, meeting a multitude of students each day. She took advantage of the MBS Mini Organization Fair to sign up for three student organizations and made lifelong memories careening down the Penobscot River in a whitewater raft.
Graham also made meaningful relationships with MBS staff and the MBS Student Ambassadors who lead Bridge Week orientation. She was inspired by the ambassadors, who led social and academic events held in the Business Living Learning Community in Somerset Hall. She applied and was accepted to be an MBS Ambassador during her second semester at UMaine.
“These older students became my mentors,” she said. “I want to be that person for someone else.”
Graham is also part of Team Maine, a leadership team that works exclusively with Enrollment Management in recruiting the next class of Black Bears. The majority of first-year business students live in the Business LLC, and Graham was no exception.
“I loved living in the LLC!” she said. “That’s why I decided to be a resident assistant during my sophomore year.”
She will also be a peer leader, directing first-year students during the Friday cohort sessions of their Intro to Business class. All first-year students are enrolled in the course in their first semester. They attend lectures on Mondays and Wednesdays and are split into small cohorts led by MBS Peer Leaders on Fridays. Their goal is to practice real-world business concepts and solve problems using the principles they’re learning in their lectures.
Graham said she looks forward to welcoming the new business students and seeing all of her hard work come to fruition.
“The Maine Business School is all about community. Bridge Week is all about making new friends and getting comfortable with campus. That’s the reason I decided to come to UMaine. I want to help these new students expand their community and feel welcomed like I did,” she said.
Incoming students are bound to run into Graham at some point during their first year at UMaine. That could be at Bridge Week, in their Intro to Business cohort, in the MBS Student Success Center, in their residence hall as she leads programming or in the Alfond Arena cheering on the Men’s Hockey Team. They may also see her at the American Marketing Association, MBS Corps or SPIFFY (Student Portfolio Investment Fund).
Her advice to incoming first-year students is simple: get involved. She took advantage of all the personal and professional development opportunities MBS had to offer, including the Bear Treks trip to Bangor and Boston, getting her professional headshot taken and interviewing for the on-campus employment opportunities that sparked her passions.
“Don’t be afraid to just show up and try something new,” she said. “There are opportunities all around you — don’t wait for a personal invitation. Just show up!”
