The Meaning of Mentorship
More than five years from when they were first paired in the Michael G. Massey Professional Mentoring Program, alumni Kaylea Waechter, BA’13, JD’16, and Lindsay Hammond, JD’24, still get teary-eyed thinking back on the impact of their time in the program.
“It was one of the most meaningful relationships throughout law school for me,” says Hammond, who joined the Part-Time JD Program at the Sturm College of Law in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I didn’t have any in-person interaction. I only knew people as a Zoom box that first year and a half. I was so fortunate to be connected to Kaylea.”
From Hammond’s early days in the part-time program to her last set of finals in May 2024, she always had a mentor in Waechter. Waechter made sure that Hammond—and all the other students she has mentored—had a resource during law school that she might not have found elsewhere.
“Out of all the stuff that I’ve done outside of practicing law, being a mentor has been the most important,” says Waechter, a dual alumna who sees mentorship as a key aspect of giving back to the University of Denver community.
The Michael G. Massey Professional Mentoring Program
Founded in 2005 with just two sections of 1L students, the Michael G. Massey Professional Mentoring Program has grown to 560 students and 423 mentors. Led by Program Director Andy Frohardt, MS’11, JD’11, it is the largest voluntary mentoring program at any law school in the nation.
Designed to facilitate consistent and meaningful relationships, the program encourages frequent communication and regular meetings with students and mentors from the legal community.
For Waechter, the flexibility to meet often and about a wide range of topics has been instrumental to developing authentic connections with her mentees. Having had five mentees since joining the program, Waechter has learned that the best way to maximize the mentoring relationship is to remove it from an overly formal office environment—something she never got to experience as a student.
“I became a mentor because I wanted to establish more of a realistic human component to the mentorship program,” says Waechter. This approach immediately resonated with Hammond, who joined the program as a 1L looking for guidance from someone who had been through the law school experience.
Though neither can specifically recall why they were paired, Hammond remembers the first time they met in person. “I think it was at Le French,” she says, “and I didn’t know what to expect.” Being older than Waechter and in the part-time program, Hammond admits to being nervous. But she had nothing to fear: “Kaylea never diminished me, never made me feel that way. She’s just a kind human being and is really special.”
From then on, their bond grew. From celebrating the end of Hammond’s final exams to exchanging notes—one of which Waechter still has on her fridge—both women have come away from the program not simply as professional contacts but also as friends.
“I feel like I won the lottery,” says Hammond. “It turned out so well.”
The Importance of Human Connection
It’s undeniable that Waechter and Hammond’s pairing demonstrates how valuable mentoring relationships can be for both lawyers and law students.
According to Waechter, approachability and availability are key to success. But the most important component? “It’s meeting them on that human level.” While this often involves helping mentees practice oral arguments or talking through tough concepts from class, Waechter also believes it means celebrating along the way.
“She always came with flowers,” recalls Hammond. “We were frequently celebrating what to me felt like nothing.” From 1L briefs to graduation, acknowledging milestones in the law school experience became a treasured practice for the two of them. “Having those kinds of milestones recognized was really meaningful. Kaylea was always there ready to celebrate me when I wasn’t ready to celebrate myself.”
Celebrating, being a listening ear, serving as a source of comfort and guidance during the law school experience—these are all components of Waechter’s mentorship philosophy. “It’s important for a mentor to invest,” she says, sharing that she shed many tears when Hammond graduated. “You feel like you go through this together and you become a team.”
“I got so lucky in being connected with Kaylea,” says Hammond, who emphasizes the importance of having a meaningful support system in law school. For her and Waechter’s other mentees, human connection has been of the utmost importance— something that Waechter values both within and beyond her work as a mentor.
By fostering relationships that extend beyond academic achievement, the Michael G. Massey Professional Mentoring Program equips future attorneys with the confidence, perspective, and the support they need to thrive. For mentors like Waechter and mentees like Hammond, the experience underscores a simple truth: when professionals invest in one another, they strengthen not only individual careers but the profession as a whole.
