Mentee Spotlight: Jackie Magnuson

EDGE mentees are young adults who are passionate about pursuing whole person development through intentional relationships. Our mentees come from a wide variety of backgrounds, career industries, and walks of life, but they all share a passion for growing in community. Jackie Magnuson, an EDGE mentee of more than four years, recently found herself at a crossroads with her career. Here, she shares about how her mentor’s guidance helped her come to a decision.

I’ve been in EDGE for almost four and a half years, and during that time, I’ve developed meaningful relationships with my mentor and fellow mentees – who continue to impact my life on a daily basis.

That impact was even clearer a few weeks ago, as I was struggling to decide whether I should accept a new job offer. I sought counsel from a lot of different people – including my parents, friends and coworkers. But it wasn’t until I called and talked to my EDGE mentor, Linda Hajduk, that I was able to confidently make my decision.

After chatting for a while and going over the pros and cons of the new position, she asked me, “What’s holding you back? I think you know what you need to do.” In answering that question, I realized the real reason I was afraid to make a career change, and I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders.

I could write countless stories about how Linda and my fellow mentees have shaped my life, but this particular experience shows how God is using EDGE to help me be a better decision maker, draw closer to him and live my life embracing community.

The really cool “God part” of this is story is that I wanted to share my conversation with Linda to promote EDGE, to help people see the value of having a mentor, and to share about the impact that mentors can have on your life. Linda and I talked on a Wednesday, I prayed about sharing the experience on Thursday, and on Friday, EDGE reached out to me about sharing my experience on the blog.

I was blown away by God taking care of all of the little details, and it gives me a great confidence that he’s working in my daily life and will take of care every detail with this new job. I can’t say enough how grateful I am for EDGE Mentoring and the impact it has had on my life!